Chasing Deer Yoona
by KatDiva
Summary: He might as well be Mr. Cellophane around her... invisible, non-existent. But he was determined to change that. Through meticulous planning, cunning and brute strength, Ok Teacyeon known as the beast of 2PM and KPOP, would win Im Yoona, SNSD Beauty.
1. Chapter 1

He clutched his iPhone a bit too hard, frustrated that it did not have zoom capability as he watched them through the miniature screen. There were nine of them on stage, almost equally as beautiful, but his camera phone singled in on one in particular. She was amazing. It wasn't because she was the best singer, because she wasn't. As a matter of fact, she only had a small role in the singing parts. It wasn't because she danced in the center, attracting everyone's attention around the nation either. It was simply because she was herself. There was no other like her. Her flawless skin almost shone as she twisted and swayed, her silky hair highlighted her facial features as she tossed it to and fro. Her long, thin legs were marvelously bare, as she trotted in high heels and extremely short shorts. Here comes the part where she winks out at the audience…pity he wouldn't see it from the front. He was almost hidden off to the side of the stage, in the dark, knowing that she had no idea how badly he wished she knew he existed. "I see you, naughty girl." he whispered.

He was so captivated by her movements and performance that he did not realize that he was also being watched. He only had a few more minutes before the song ended, maybe he should stop now and go back to his own member's dressing room. But since nobody knew he was there, he felt safe, in his secret adoration. He did not want anyone else to know, because there were already too many competitors to deal with, and he didn't want to be just another fan-boy. What he didn't know is that a few of men that surrounded her like a protective circle were already aware of his secret glances, and stolen looks. Like the one that watched him now, torn on whether to go up and confront him, or let it go, since he had to go up on stage as soon as the nine beauties finished.

His muscles relaxed, as he sighed, "I guess I could watch you all night if you let me."

"You won't have the chance, you stalking pervert," said the second man. He clapped his hand down on the tall shoulder, and leaned closer, "Stay away from her, Dumbo Ears."

The younger man fumbled his iPhone as he jumped from surprise. He turned to face the shorter, but sinewy man that he knew to be her best friend.

"Lee Teuk," he stammered, "How long were you standing here?"

"Long enough to know what you're up to, pervert," the older of the two reached for the iPhone and snatched it away.

"What are you doing?" the younger man asked.

"I'm doing you a favor," LeeTeuk replied, "Now get out of here."

The younger man was about to protest when he realized that the girls on stage had started to walk toward them. He watched helplessly as the other man walked out on to the stage and exchanged high fives with the girl group, on his way to the microphone to MC.

He retreated back stage, and headed to his own dressing room, before being sighted by any of the lovely ladies. Why did he have to get caught by LeeTeuk of all men? The man was her closest ally, he was almost constantly by her side or on the phone with her. And now he had his cell phone! What had he planned on doing with it?

As he entered the small dressing room, the other male members were busy and barely noticed him. One sat at the mirror, removing stage make up. Three of the others imitating dance moves from another group. Yet another was packing away his costume into a long garment bag. The tallest of the members glanced around the room he had just entered, quietly closing the door behind him.

The handsome face that was removing make up looked through the mirror's reflection of his friend that just came in. "Did you get caught?" he asked.

"Huh?" the tallest was startled by the accuracy of the question.

"Did you caught by someone?"

The oldest of the six stammered, "What do you mean?"

"Hyung, you think we don't know that you fancy her?"

The youngest that was putting away costumes, stopped and looked up from his task.

"Hyung, you're too obvious. We all know where you disappear to all of a sudden when SNSD are on the stage."

He looked desperately between his two friends as they almost gloated in their revelation, exchanging knowing glances at each other.

"What are you talking about," he asked defensively.

Nickhun placed the tissue down that he was using to remove his make up and turned to face his friend.

"Did you think we wouldn't have noticed? Dude, Chansung and I have been crushing on her since the day we met them on Army Idol."

The maknae walked up to his older brother and threw his arm around the taller man's shoulder, "Taec, you're an amateur at love. Why don't you let us help you?"

Nickhun joined the two taller men, "Even though you don't stand a chance against us," he said jokingly.

Taecyeon shrugged off Chansung's arm and pushed him gently away. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't fancy anyone in particular."

The other two busted out laughing at the obvious denial.

"Hyung, men can spot their competition a mile away." Khunnie explained. "It's not like we didn't know from the first. But we also know how private you are about these things, and so we just didn't say anything."

"Until now," added Chansung. "You look bad. What happened?"

"Who caught you," Nick inquired.

"You two need to just back off, and finish packing up the gear." Taecyeon turned back to the door and as he reached for it, Chansung asked him, "Where are you going?"

"To get what belongs to me." Taecyeon responded as he closed the door behind him.

The two friends grabbed at the door and both poked their heads out and watched him head down the hall.

"Isn't the SNSD dressing room the other way?" Nickhun yelled out to Taecyeon.

The tall, muscled, friend waved an arm up in the air as he continued down the hallway.

"Where's he going?" Chansung asked.

"To regain his sanity?" Nick joked as he shrugged and turned back into the room to resume his duties.

As Taecyeon approached the largest of all the dressing rooms, he knew he would have to prepare himself for this conversation. It was going to be awkward but there was no other way.

He hesitated a few feet from the open double doors, as he heard the large group of ten men rustling around in the room, chattering and joking with each other.

Then he heard a group of them burst out in laughter, as they chanted, "Again! Again!"

It was then that he heard her distinct vocal impression float from the room.

"I don't know what you oppas are talking about!" she chided in her imitation of the comical TV character, "what do you mean by that?"

The laughter raised up from the young men and Taecyeon felt his muscles tighten. What was she doing here? Why in their dressing room, of all places?

There was no mistaking that voice, it belonged to the object of his affection for the past year. He hadn't realized he had fisted his hands, and a scowl deepened across his brow. Why must it always be them? They were a constant cocoon of protection around her and they monopolized her. He took a deep breath, and shook his hands free. They didn't own her, and he would need to man up if he wanted to change this ever re-occurring scene.

He stepped into the doorway just in time to see the one called Dong Hae pull Yoona on to his lap. She laughed as she tried to squirm free, but then Yaesung leaned in close to her and squished her face between his hands. LeeTeuk clapped his hands in approval, laughing loudly along with Heechul as they said, "Again! Again!"

"OPPA!" she tried to say with her squashed lips and cheeks. She hadn't noticed him standing there. She never noticed him. Only one of the ten men seemed to have realized their territory had been breached by an outsider.

Siwon glanced at Taecyeon and then back at his friends playing with Yoona. He loudly cleared his throat and walked up to DongHae, placing a hand on his shoulder. His hand stretched out to rustle Yoona's hair roughly, "Yah you…you need to go back to your room." LeeTeuk and Heechul booed at Siwon and attempted to push the party-pooper away from DongHae, but he looked at them seriously and then motioned his head toward the doorway.

LeeTeuk stopped smiling when he saw Ok Taecyeon standing in their doorway. "Nervy brat," thought the 28 year old. He walked towards the door reaching into his pocket.

Taecyeon looked beyond him, watching as DongHae nuzzled his nose into Yoona's hair as she leaned forward to dodge him, but Yaesung still had her face in his hands, so it make escape impossible. Heechul glanced at the doorway, and when he saw it was no one important, he went back to clapping and bounced up and down while coaxing them on.

He didn't want to watch this. But he couldn't take his eyes away from the scene. It was like passing a traffic accident. He knew he should look away but his morbid curiousity forced him to keep watching DongHae's hands on her waist, and Yaesung's hands on her face. He didn't want to see her laughing so hard as they manhandled her. Why was she like this with them? And why wouldn't she look in his direction?

"What are you doing here, Junior?" asked LeeTeuk as he closed in.

Taecyeon could not peel his eyes off of her. Even as the other members began to notice his presence, and then continued on with packing and playing.

"I came for what's mine." Taecyeon answered in a serious tone.

"Oh you mean this," LeeTeuk teased, as he reached in his pocket and pulled out the iPhone. He lifted it up between two fingers, "You should thank me. You have more space on it now."

When he realized that Taecyeon was not interested in the phone, or him, he looked back to see what had captured his interest. He stepped directly into Taecyeon's line of vision, blocking him from the play scene, "I deleted your video files."

There was no reaction.

"All of them," he clarified.

Since Taecyeon was almost a full head taller, he managed to look above LeeTeuk, and witness Siwon pull Yaesung away from Yoona, and in a single motion he pulled her up from DongHae's lap, as DongHae reached out to grab her back. Siwon whispered something into Yoona's ear, her smile slowly fading, and turned directly to face the door.

Taecyeon then reached up and snatched his phone back from LeeTeuk. The shorter, but older man smirked at him and started to turn back into the room.

"Don't go away mad," said LeeTeuk, "Just go away, period."

The taller man directed a slight bow to Yoona and watched as she returned the gesture.

He then looked down to the smirking LeeTeuk and said quietly, so only the two of them could hear, "Why do I need videos when the real thing is right in front of me?"

The smirk disappeared as he continued, "I always have a back up plan...wait til you see the plan I have to erase you lot from her life."


	2. Chapter 2

When Taecyeon arrived at the Japanese restaurant, he asked for a private room near the back exit. He knew Tiffany loved Japanese food, especially sashimi, but he didn't know Yoona's favorite type of food… yet. He liked the layout of this room, with lush green ferns and waterfall appearing to grow out of the far wall. He also enjoyed being able to stretch his legs, with the accommodating dug out space below the table. It was difficult for him to keep his long legs folded traditionally, so this worked out perfectly. He leaned back momentarily, placing his arms behind him as he rested with a lazy smile. "Yep, this will do just fine," he thought as he remembered how easy it was to coax his good friend Tiffany to bring along Yoona for lunch. "Not her type?" he asked himself, remembering all the previous times that Tiffany had dissuaded him. "We'll just see about that."

He glanced at his watch again, and then reached for tea pot. "They'll be late," he confirmed, as he suspected they would. He talked to Tiffany a few hours before, and she mentioned that she was going shopping with Yoona that morning.

"So why don't I meet you two uptown for lunch?" he asked casually.

Tiffany let out a heavy sigh, because she knew he wouldn't give up. "I suppose you won't take no for an answer?" she said in crystal clear English. They always spoke in English when it was just the two of them.

"Let's meet at Tani's, it's a new restaurant in Cheongdam-dong, next to Lotte's. You'll be in that neck of the woods shopping anyway."

He heard Tiffany's interest peak as she asked him, "Oh that's the new one with the stones and woodcarvings right? I heard it has an African feel to it!"

"How's 1:30 sound," Taec offered?

"You better make it 2PM," Tiffany joked.

"Ouch!" he cringed.

"No seriously, we love to shop, so give us at least till then."

He wiggled his toes as he stretched, imagining Yoona sitting across from him. He would love to be at the stage in a relationship where he could play footsies under the table, but he was getting ahead of himself. It was hard to harness his imagination and desire when it came to Yoona. He didn't want to slow down to her pace. But he knew he'd scare her off unless he did.

"How long does it take to buy shoes?" he impatiently muttered. He had been waiting for 35 minutes, when his iPhone vibrated.

"We're in the lobby now," Tiffany texted.

He quickly straightened his posture and combed his fingers through his hair. He had unconsciously wet his lips and cleared his throat before taking another quick glance down at the table and around the room to make sure everything was just right.

There were four purple satin pillows that surrounded the table. He was tempted to remove one from the other side of the table, and sit on it as well, so that Yoona would either need to sit beside him or in front of him. Either of those options would work.

He heard the soft voice, "We're entering," spoken in Japanese.

He brightened as the sliding doors revealed the two lovely young members of SNSD, with the Japanese hostess signaling them where to place their shoes at the room's entrance.

"Yo!" Taec said energetically.

"Yo!" Tiffany mimicked.

Yoona acknowledged him with a slight bow and bent down to remove her shoes.

He nodded at Tiffany in approval as she continued to smile at him.

"Sorry we're late, Oppa," she spoke in Korean, since Yoona was with them. "The place we wanted to go to was packed so we had to skip it. But we did find a nice smaller store… do you want to see?" she raised up her shopping bag.

"Come and sit down first, and relax" he answered. "You should get something to drink."

He watched as Yoona placed her shoes neatly next to his own, and saw her smile when she eyed the difference in sizes. He motioned to her to take a seat and she hesitated slightly before she seated herself across the table, but not directly in front of him.

As Tiffany sat down directly in front of Taec, she said, "Oppa, it's great timing that you happened to be on the same side of town as us when you texted me a while ago." She knowingly smiled at him to watch for his reaction.

"Yep, nice coincidence."

Realizing he needed to bring her in to the conversation, he looked at Yoona and continued, "Yoona-sshi, I'm glad you came too. We haven't had much of a chance to talk to each other."

"I'm always up for a free lunch!" she immediately joked, "And Tiffany has wanted to come to this restaurant since they opened."

Before long they had ordered and were sampling extensive sushi offerings along with Kushiage, Kushiyaki and a few soba dishes. One thing Taecyeon noticed about Yoona, she wasn't shy when it came to eating, and he liked that in a girl. It was a mystery where all that food went, since she was so slender he could easily pick her up with one arm.

She reached for her phone, it was the third time she had received a text message within the last 30 minutes. He couldn't help himself, he placed his hand out, open palm, and signaled at her to hand him the phone. Her perplexed look made him smile, and he said to Tiffany, without taking his eyes off of Yoona, "You too, Tiff, hand over your phone."

He pulled his own phone from his pocket and placed it on his open palm. Tiffany shrugged as she surrendered her phone over to her friend, but Yoona seemed doubtful.

"Don't I deserve your undivided attention Miss Yoona, since I'm your lunch date?"

She opened her mouth to object to the term date, but he had already reached over and confiscated her phone.

"We can have these back after we're done eating," Taecyeon said confidently.

Tiffany attempted to explain to Yoona that Taecyeon was a bit domineering when it came right down to it, but she used the wrong word in Korean and Taec and Yoona ended up laughing.

That set up a tirade of instances they shared about Tiffany and and Taecyeon's experiences at times switching from English to Korean. For Taecyeon it was much easier, because both his parents spoke nothing but Korean at home. But Tiffany was a lot like Nickhun when it came to Korean, they knew the basics, but colloquial sayings and jokes sometimes went right over their heads.

He watched Yoona as she laughed, and it made him laugh even harder. She never held back, whether it was her appetite or her laughter, she enjoyed both wholeheartedly. He had seen her share that laugh too many times with other male friends, but this was his first. How pleased he felt with himself, that he could make her laugh this way.

They had finished their meal and were contemplating dessert when he stretched his right leg slightly in Yoona's direction. His foot brushed up against hers which caused her to look immediately up at him. She was about to apologize, when it happened.

It was that wink of his that stopped her before she even started the sentence.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she thought. She simply smiled nervously at him.

"Since you're still underage and can't have any champagne or saki, let's just settle for something sweet," he grinned.

He slid over to the empty space next to him and stretched the dessert menu over in her direction. She reached for it but he didn't let go. When she looked up at him, he pointed to a specialty dessert, fried ice-cream.

"Tiffany loves ice cream," he suggested to Yoona, "What do you love?"

His eyes looked into hers intently and the corner of his lips curved into a sexy smile.

She felt tingles run up her arms and back, and realized she had goosebumps.

Maybe it was his confidence, or maybe it was the way he carried himself, with his broad, strong shoulders, but she knew there was something different about this member of 2PM that she had not yet encountered with her other Oppas.

Not to be outdone, she let go of the menu and reached for his wrist.

"What time is it, Oppa?" she asked as she pulled his wrist closer so she could see his watch.

He leaned forward, putting the menu down, and extending his arm to her freely, wanting to use the other hand to touch her silky hair. He noticed the way she tucked one side behind her ear, revealing her soft earlobe. He briefly imagined what it would be like to whisper into her ear, or better yet, to take it softly between his lips…

"Yoona likes ice cream too!" Tiffany said, almost too loudly.

It broke the trance that both had on each other and Yoona quickly let go of Taecyeon's wrist, and he shyly slid back over to his own seat.

He cleared his throat and reached for a cup of hot tea because his mouth had gone dry. "She definitely felt it too," he thought. "That was electric!"

After the ice cream, Taecyeon reached down for the phones, and powered each one back on. He handed Tiffany her phone and then he looked at his own iPhone and frowned as he pretended it would not power back on.

"Must be dead," he shrugged. "I'll use yours, Yoona."

After it turned back on he noticed the alert informing him of 12 missed text messages. Either someone was desperately trying to reach her, or she was one very popular girl. He quickly punched in his own number into her keypad, and his iPhone vibrated.

"Oh it is working after all!"

He handed back her phone and they rose and began gathering their belongings.

"Thank you, Oppa, for a wonderful lunch." Yoona smiled at him.

"Mmm it was delicious wasn't it," he looked into her eyes. Tiffany headed to retrieve her bags, and was also thanking him but he continued to watch Yoona.

"We should do this again sometime," he offered, "I have your number now," he raised up his phone and smiled. "So let's plan on it."

Yoona surprised him with a coy smile of her own, "You have "A" phone number, Oppa, we each have 2-3 phones, so make sure you ask me for all of them." And with that she was out the door, leaving him shaking his head helplessly.

"You can count on it," he grinned to himself, pleased with her coy revelation.


	3. Chapter 3

A few days passed, and Taecyeon eyed his phone more times than he had ever done before. He didn't want to seem desperate, or too anxious, so he decided to let a few days pass before he made his move. Should he ask her how her day has been? How about thanking her for joining him for lunch? Or he could just text a greeting, and tell her to keep working hard. "So lame!" he moaned, as he paced his dorm room. Why did it feel as if he were in middle school all over again? He was a grown man now, had a few girlfriends back in the States, and he never once hesitated to chat them up. But she was different, and it was because who she was that caused his inner strife.

"Oh to hell with it," he mumbled to himself as he sat on his bed.

He touched the contact icon on the small illuminated screen and decided to call Tiffany instead. She would tell him 'the goods.' He hoped she would, since she had always been open with him.

He tapped the part of the screen that said 'mobile' and waited as he listened to the ringing. It was in the middle of the afternoon, and they'd probably be at a studio or practice room in the SM Entertainment tower.

No answer.

"Just great," he sighed. He wouldn't bother leaving a voicemail, because he didn't know how he could broach the topic via a message.

As he laid the phone down next to him he quietly contemplated his next move. Because he was deep in thought, even the soft ringtone made him jump as the iPhone screen illuminated once more.

The caller ID name brought a smile to his lips as he leaned back casually on the bed.

"You called just at the right time," he said, skipping the greeting all together.

"I always do," came the quick masculine comeback. "What do I need to save you from this time?"

"Nah, it's not like that," Taec grinned, "It's just that I could use some distraction right about now."

"And distraction is what we're best at, right?" his friend joked.

"So how about we hang out tonight, maybe go for some dinner first?" Taec inquired.

"What am I now, your date?" the low voice quipped. "No, not tonight, how about tomorrow morning for coffee. I have plans tonight."

"A real date this time? Not one with your TV?"

"Keep it up, and you'll be drinking coffee by yourself!"

Taec smiled at the fake threat and sighed. "Hyung, you wouldn't desert me. You never could, even back in our trainee days."

Seulong agreed, "So true. Remember how we all got sent home when we got in to trouble? Only they couldn't send you home, it was too far!"

Taec laughed and said, "Yeah I thought I was going to get off easy, until they sent me down to the 'dungeon' at the studio!"

"But who was it that came and kept your sorry self company?"

"True enough," admitted Taecyeon.

"And who was it that froze to death down there with you all night long?"

Taec laughed again and said, "Ok, ok, I'll buy the coffee tomorrow! You act like you saved me from getting hypothermia!"

"Well there was only just one blanket that night," Seulong mocked. "By the way, I've invited another friend, no problem, right?"

"Well that depends on whether it's a male friend or female friend," Taec challenged.

"Oh come on now, you know you're the only one for me!"

"So it is a girl?"

"Yep, you know her too, it's Sunny. She wants to lend me a book we talked about a few days ago. It's probably better if we aren't seen alone, you know the drill."

At hearing Sunny's name, Taec quickly sat upright. "Sunny? Is she coming alone?"

"Whoaaaa, cowboy. Is that an anxious quiver I hear in your voice?"

"No, it's because I was just calling Tiffany right before you called, so this is sort of a coincidence."

"Tiffany? So you want to ask her to come along too? I am sure that would be fine with Sunny, even better."

"Well, won't it look kind of suspicious if it's two girls and two guys? I mean it might seem like a double date." Taec insinuated.

"So who's the real invitation going to be for?" Seulong quickly added it up.

"Well you know, if Tiffany were to bring someone else along, it wouldn't be bad, right?"

"And who is this someone?" Seulong asked.

"It doesn't matter… anyone." Taec tried to hide his expression because he knew if Seulong were standing in the room with him, he would be able to see that he was lying. Of course it mattered, who was he trying to fool?

"Anyone, huh?" Seulong paused, "So I'll just ask Sunny to see who's available."

"WAIT! Hyung!" Taec called out, "Ok, ok, ok. So it does matter. "

Seulong knew his friend too well.

Taec quickly explained, "Look, its just that I don't want to mess this up. You know how clutzy I am about these things. And she's… well she's just so out of my league right now."

His older friend cleared his throat, and listened. There was something very serious now about Taec's voice that made him want to be next to him while he heard this confession.

He waited.

Taecyeon closed his eyes tightly and squished his face as hard as he could… "Whatever, just say it already!" he told himself.

"It's Yoona," he revealed while blowing out a deep breath, and then listened for his friend's reaction.

"I see," his friend stated quietly.

"And?"

"You're right, she's way out of your league."

"HYUNG!" Taecyeon exclaimed.

"Well, I just call them like I see them!"

"Seriously? So should I ask Tiffany to bring her along or what?"

Seulong could hear the turmoil in his younger friend's voice and knew he needed to build up his confidence. It wasn't the first time he had seen Taecyeon hesitate over which direction to take or move to make.

"I'm assuming Tiffany knows your feelings for Yoona?"

"What feelings? I just want to get to spend some time with her…"

"This won't be easy," his friend warned.

"Tell me something I don't know!"

"You twitch in your sleep."

Taec laughed at this and was about to tell Seulong he already knew that, when his friend continued, "And you hog the blanket."

"You fart in your sleep," Taec quickly joined in.

"You sleep on your back like a vampire!"

"So you're going to help?" the younger man inquired.

"Call Tiffany and invite her to join us. I'll call Sunny and have her bring Yoona along so it won't look so obvious."

"Won't Sunny be suspicious?" Taec asked.

"This is me we're talking about, not you! Sunny knows I'm a nut anyway, so bringing Yoona along will make perfect sense to her. You do realize she is the wackiest of the bunch, don't you?"

"Its all a part of her charm," Taec defended.

Taec hung up the phone, feeling grateful he had Seulong. Even though he felt close to his members, Seulong was like the older brother he never had. He was goofy one minute, and then strong and silent the next.

Just as he stood, the phone vibrated with a text message.

"Do NOT try and dress yourself tomorrow. I'll swing by first thing to pick you up. Or shall I stop by on my way home tonight and share another blanket with you?"


	4. Chapter 4

Yoona arrived at the studio at 6:00 am promptly along with Yuri, Sooyoung, and Hyeyong. She did not feel as confident as the other three in her dance skills, and was concerned about an upcoming dance battle on one of the local network TV stations. As they began to warm up and stretch, she began telling herself that she could do this. She knew if she tried hard enough, she would not only be able to keep up but would be able to stay in synch with her dance team. Hyeyong was to be their choreographer for this routine, and she started them off slowly.

The popping was followed by some LA-style krumping which they had to work on for over an hour to get the moves just right. Yoona was trying not to feel discouraged as she noticed how easily Yuri and Sooyoung followed along with Hyeyong. She tried to shake it off and asked for a quick break.

"We're almost finished, Yoona," said Yuri, "Can you just hang on until then?"

Yoona took a deep breath and lifted her hair off the back of her sweaty neck. Was she the only one that struggling? At this rate, she wouldn't be able to match the veracity of the other girls dance steps.

Hyeyong fluidly twisted in to a 180 degree turn and then lowered herself to the ground while doing a booty shake. Then slowly did a figure eight grind while she stood back up for a dynamic finish of a strong body wave, flicking her long head of hair upwards.

As she attempted the move, Yoona felt the burning in her thighs and calves, and her legs began to feel shaky beneath her. She ignored the pain, and pushed through it, so she wouldn't be a burden to her SNSD sisters.

"Yoona," Hyeyong said while looking at her reflection in the mirror, "Try doing it in slow motion first. Break it out in 8 counts."

As the other girls turned to watch her, she re-attempted the move and found herself floundering. Hyeyong reached over to the CD player and stopped it.

"I think we should call it day."

"No, I can get this." Yoona promised.

"We know you can, but just …" Yuri tried to motivate her.

"No, just give me a quick break, and I promise I'll get better."

"Yoona, we have to head down to the station for the recording," Soolong reminded her that she and Yuri were on a TV variety show.

Yoona nodded and agreed that she would meet them back in the dance studio the following morning.

"I have to meet Sunny for coffee in an hour anyway," she said to them.

The other girls headed down the hall while Yoona lagged behind. She took out her bottle of water and reached in her backpack for another CD. She was a strong dancer, but today she just needed a few more minutes of practice.

He was walking down the hall, when he heard the dance music coming from one of the studio rooms. One thing he couldn't resist was dancing. As he walked up and peered in the long glass slit on the door, he noticed her. Her back was facing him as she looked at her own reflection while finishing the krump move.

His lips raised up in broad smile when he saw her move. And then he heard her exasperated groan as she did the booty shake downwards. Before he realized it, he had entered the room, and was walking toward her.

"It's because you're trying too hard," he teased her.

She looked up at his reflection in the mirror while she lowered herself on to the ground, "OPPA!"

He squatted next to her, and removed his baseball cap and placed it on her head.

"Shall your Oppa help you?"

"What are you doing here?" she asked curiously.

"I'm here to be your personal dance tutor," he teased. In reality he had just finished delivering some papers to the office.

He outstretched his hand and raised her to a standing position in one fluid pull of her arm.

He stepped behind her and placed his hands on her hips. He leaned in closely and said in a lower voice, "You need to relax your hips more, Yoona."

She nodded as she felt him guide her in a soft, slow motion grind.

"Oppa," she attempted to say.

"No talking," he said even more softly then previously. "No thinking."

As the music flowed into another mix, he widened the grind and began to guide her down slowly.

"Just feel, Yoona. It doesn't take anything else but feeling."

He lifted his hands off her hips and lightly covered her eyes.

"Close your eyes, and feel."

"Oppa!" she began to protest at the intimacy of his movements.

"Yoona!" he said a bit too strongly and she jumped. He softened his voice again, "You're too tense, and you aren't letting the music move you, you're trying to move to the music. There's a difference."

As she lowered herself into a squat, he placed his hands back on her hips and guided them softly into a figure eight.

"Don't rush it," he suggested.

She realized that she no longer felt any pain in her legs, yet every nerve ending seemed to be alive and her heartbeat was racing much faster than the music beat. She opened her eyes and saw Dong Hae's intense look at her reflection. She unwittingly bit her lip.

"That's it, Yoona," he coaxed.

She smiled at his praise and he nodded at her in the mirror.

"See, you're doing it, all you needed was to feel it."

She swallowed deeply as she hesitated and then completely stopped. It wasn't the music she was feeling any longer, but something very tempting and deep from within.

"Oppa," she turned to face him as she stood, "I have to meet Sunny. Thank you for your help today."

Dong Hae chuckled as he appraised her red face. Somehow he didn't think it was solely attributed to her perspiring from dancing either.

"Let Oppa give you a ride," he offered. He didn't want to end their meeting so soon. Dong Hae always enjoyed his few stolen moments he had with Yoona. They had known each other for over six years, yet he always felt refreshed when he spent time with her.

As they swerved in between lanes on Dong Hae's motorcycle, he contemplated how comfortable she was with her arms wrapped around his waist. She had ridden his motorcycle so many times that he lost count, yet he never tired of the warmth he felt on his back and especially enjoyed when she placed her head on his back. Today she didn't disappoint him as she leaned her head on his shoulder, "Faster, Oppa," she raised her voice to be heard over the noisy traffic, "I'm late!"

A few minutes later they pulled up in front of the coffee shop, and did not go unnoticed by the table of four that sat near the front window.

Taecyeon was the first to notice the motorcycle arrive. He knew without a doubt who the girl on the back was, but he couldn't see who her male companion was until Yoona slowly climbed down, and removed her helmet. Taecyeon watched as she handed the helmet over.

Dong Hae removed his own helmet first, and shook his hair free.

Instead of reaching out for the helmet he motioned for Yoona to come closer.

Taec felt something pull tightly in his stomach as he watched her lean forward.

Dong Hae pulled Yoona closer and whispered in her ear, "Call Oppa when you're ready to practice again ok?"

She pushed the helmet into his chest as she laughed, "Oppa!"

He shrugged and didn't notice that someone in the near by window had stood to watch them.

Dong Hae reached out and tried to comb his fingers through Yoona's hair.

"Now look at you," he teased. "Sunny will ask what you've been up to… what will you tell her?"

She threw her head back and laughed when Taec felt the tugging on the back of his shirt. He looked down and saw the concerned look on Tiffany's face.

He hadn't realized he was even standing until that moment.

He sat back down gruffly as he brought the mug of coffee to his mouth, and nodded back at Tiffany to reassure her.

The funny thing is that he wasn't even close to convincing, since he didn't even reassure himself.

All he knew is that he was angry. He knew that he had no claim on Yoona. He knew he barely existed in her world. He knew that there was a group of young men that she shared many things with, and wondered just how much sharing she did with them? As his anger began to come to a full boil he looked up again to see her wave gingerly back at her riding partner.

Taec cleared his throat and stood once more, excusing himself and heading to the restroom. He didn't trust himself to greet her right now, as knew his anger was out of line. At least this much he could control.

He splashed water on his face as he looked at his own reflection.

"She won't notice you unless you make her," he thought as he reached for the paper towels.

He shook his hair and exhaled deeply.

"It's on, Miss Yoona," he challenged her silently. "Ready or not, here I come!"


	5. Chapter 5

As she entered the Playoff Café, Yoona was greeted by three female staff members, and one handed her an electronic card. She smiled politely at the greeters, and returned their bow. She immediately spotted the table near the window where Tiffany, Sunny and Seulong sat. Yoona walked up and ordered cappuccino from the waiter that met her at the table. There were two unoccupied seats to choose from, however she quickly noticed that one had a large coffee mug in front of it. Who else had joined the group? She selected the empty seat and nodded in the direction of the mug.

"Who's coffee?"

Seulong tutted several times and said, "Yoona-shii, so now you don't even bother with the greetings?"

"Oh I'm sorry," she immediately apologized, "Good Morning," she said in accented English.

"Good Morning, Yoona-shii," repeated Seulong.

She smiled at her two sister members, and quickly evaluated the contents on top of the table. In between Seulong and Sunny was a hard back book, but she couldn't see the title since the spine was facing the opposite direction. In the center of the table laid three unopened board games, the top box had the name "CLUE" written on it in English.

In front of each of her friends laid their corresponding electronic cards. Playoff Café was one of 500 board game cafes. They are quite popular amongst University students and office workers, and this was one of the higher end cafes that offered snacks, coffee, cappuccino, and soda and it was all added to the electronic cards along with a small hourly fee per person.

"So what are we playing?" Yoona inquired.

Sunny reached over and spread the games across the table and frowned, "Something that doesn't require partners, because now we are odd numbered."

"Oh did I spoil the count?" Yoona teased.

A deep masculine voice answered from directly behind her, "You could never spoil anything, Yoona. We've been waiting for you."

She quickly glanced over her shoulder and eyes were level with his flat stomach. Her eyes moved upward and she recognized the broad shoulders and strong chest before looking up into his eyes.

"Taecyeon Oppa!"

He leaned forward and placed one hand on her right shoulder, his chest pressed up against her back as he placed a small, square box on to the table. Yoona had to lean forward as well, and felt the warmth of his chest brushing against her shoulders.

She swallowed as she glanced down at the Jenga box. Just as she was about to say something, Taecyeon moved to his awaiting chair and sat down.

"Jenga?" Tiffany asked.

"Not just Jenga," Taec smiled at his friend, "Truth or Dare Jenga!"

Seulong laughed as he immediately recalled an evening at the JYP Towers with "One Day" as they called themselves, when the members from 2AM and 2PM met together. The embarrassing moments of truth came rushing back to him as he chuckled.

"Aigoo!" he joked, "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

Taecyeon smiled confidently back at his long time friend and gave him a thumbs up.

"Don't try and weasel out it once we get started, Oppa!" Tiffany challenged.

Yoona looked at Tiffany and then at Sunny. She wasn't sure she was up to the challenge herself, since she didn't know Ok Taecyeon or Seulong very well. Did she really want to reveal any truths about herself? She mulled it over, "How hard can it be?" She didn't have anything too embarrassing to expose, but she knew that Sunny and Tiffany would know if she was lying, so she had to decide quickly. She could always take a dare, since she was quite brave, and how drastic would these two Oppas be on their dare to her, since they didn't know her well either.

Upon confirmation that there were no immediate objections, Taecyeon began to empty the Jenga box on to the table as Sunny reached for the unused games and placed them on a shelf behind her.

When the waiter appeared with Yoona's cappuccino Taecyeon asked him to bring five pairs of chopsticks.

Sunny glanced at Tiffany who shrugged as she picked up a celery stick and chewed.

Taecyeon took the metal chopsticks from the waiter and distributed them to his friends.

"So in Truth or Dare Jenga, you must use these chopsticks to remove your pieces."

"Oppa!" Tiffany objected, "How are we supposed to pick up those blocks with our chopsticks and build a tower?"

"The time has passed for objections, Tiffany," Seulong went along with Taec's plan.

"You just better hope you have a steady hand!" Taec teased her.

When he noticed the three girls look doubtfully at each other, he continued, "The green blocks are for truth, and you have to answer the question on the block. The red ones are for dares, and you have to do whatever is written. The natural colored blocks can be blank or…" he reached into his pocket and extracted a mechanical pencil. "We can write our own truth or dare on them."

"No way!" Yoona protested.

Seulong and Taecyeon both laughed at her and as Taec wagged a finger at her.

The waiter came to check on them and Taecyeon asked him for his tray. He quickly gathered the blocks onto the tray and then asked the waiter for one of the private rooms.

Ignoring the protests of the girls, Seulong and Taec took less than two minutes to build the tower, rotating between colored blocks.

"Just how bad are these dares," Sunny asked, "That we need a private room?"

Seulong winked at Taecyeon, and answered, "My favorite was when Kwonnie had to sit on Chansung's lap through one full round."

The girls all gasped as Taec responded, "Nah I think Kwonnie enjoyed that too much. I liked it when WooYoung and Junsu had to swap an article of clothing and they decided on changing jeans!"

Yoona began to shake her head in disbelief, trying to deny what they had gotten themselves into. Any truth would be better than a dare, she decided quickly to aim for the green blocks.

"What happens if you make the tower fall?"

Seulong and Taecyeon exchanged knowing glances at each other, "You'll see!"

The atmosphere seemed to heat up from the first block that Seulong picked, which was a red dare. He had no trouble removing a lower red block and read aloud, "Make an obscene phone call to someone of the same sex."

The girls immediately giggled, and Taec asked, "Hey do you think some fangirls made that question?"

Seulong quickly picked up his cell phone and chuckled as he pressed his speed dial. "This is too easy."

"Hello?" they all heard the young man say as Seulong had pressed the speaker button.

"Don't say anything until I tell you to, got it?" asked the older of the two. "You hang up on me and you're dead."

"Hyung?" the confused member asked.

"I said don't say anything didn't I!" When he was satisfied with the silent response he continued. "I've had you on my mind all morning long." Seulong grinned into the phone. "I peeked in on your this morning before I left, and almost lost control. You wore boxers to bed on purpose didn't you?"

When the girls exchanged glances, Tiffany and Yoona clasped their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing.

"Jinwonnie, how come you drive me crazy like that? Do you know how much I want to rape you when you do that?"

Taecyeon slapped his hand softly on to his own leg as he chuckled at how natural Seulong was at this game.

"I just wanted to rub my nipples against yours, since you were bare-chested."

It was Sunny's turn to clasp her mouth closed as she could barely keep from busting out laughing.

"You make me so hard, just watching you sleep Jinwonnie…"

"HYUNG!" yelled the maknae into the phone, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Don't be shy baby. Reach down and touch …"

"HYUNG, ARE YOU CRAZY?"

The entire room burst out into laughter as Seulong kissed the phone, "I love you Jinwoonie!" The confused maknae hung up the phone, and Seulong shook his head, "Didn't I warn him not to hang up on me? Just wait till I get back to the dorm!"

His audience was still laughing when he said, "And that, Ladies and Gentleman, is how this game is played!"

It was Tiffany's turn and she carefully picked up a green block.

"What's the naughtiest thing you've ever done?" she read. Immediately the room began clapping in anticipation. As Tiffany looked at Sunny and Yoona they quickly realized that the truth questions were not any safer than the dares!

"Oppa!" Tiffany began to protest.

Taec took no pity on is American friend, and shook his head. "You're playin' with the big boys now!" he teased her in English.

Tiffany's face was scarlet as she rubbed her two hands together, "Oppa please let me change to a dare!"

Since it was their first time playing Seulong felt a bit soft on Tiffany, but Taecyeon began to make chicken squawking sounds mocking her.

Finally she feinted as if she was going to throw the block at Taec, when she slumped down in her seat. "Fine! But I'll remember this on your turn!"

Before beginning Tiffany confirmed, "Whatever we say in this room, stays between us alone, right?"

Tiffany hesitantly began to tell the group about her sophomore year at South Pointe High School, in Diamond Bar, California. "A group of friends were invited over to my best friend's house for a BBQ and swim party." She looked around the circle of her friends and extracted their oath that they would not repeat the story to anyone. "Well things got a little crazy and someone added bubble bath to the Jacuzzi. It was so much fun with all the bubbles that our group of girls decided to skinny dip in the Jacuzzi. After all, there were no boys there!"

Seulong clapped at the revelation and leaned forward to comment, "Say Tiffany, are there any Jacuzzis at the SM dorms?" They all laughed at that question when Taecyeon realized it was his turn.

He didn't doubt for a second which color he would go for, and stealthy reached his chopsticks out for a red block.

He began to read aloud but ended up laughing before he could finish, "Give someone of the opposite sex a lap dance, and make it hot!"

The room erupted in hoots and laughter.

"Is this a perverted game or what?" asked Yoona.

"Seriously, are there any normal questions?" agreed Sunny.

Taecyeon shrugged and answered, "The last time the boys played we had questions like 'Mime your most embarrassing nightly activity,' and 'Write a letter to Penthouse and read it out loud."

Ignoring the girls reaction, he pulled out his iPhone and swiped the screen as he reviewed a playlist on the iPod application. He grinned broadly as he selected an old school American band song.

As the sultry voice of Jim Morrison sang "Light my Fire," Taec carefully climb on the low table began to slowly gyrate as he sang along with Doors. He lowered himself on to all fours and faced Seulong as he exaggerated a long lip wetting with his tongue. The girls burst out in laughter simultaneously when Taec kneeled as he rubbed his chest and then lowered his hands downward, across his stomach and back to his rear end. He slowly crawled across the table and headed in Yoona's direction.

Yoona partially anticipated, partially dreaded the tall young man's approach toward her.

He then lowered himself from the table and straddled the seated Yoona placing his hands on her shoulders and he carefully rounded his hips in slow, large circular motions before coming within inches of sitting on her lap, facing her.

The clapping got louder as he converted his movements into long body waves, coming dangerously close to brushing his chest against Yoona's.

He knew she was already 19 years old, and he doubted that she had never been kissed. He pondered the thought of brushing his lips against hers, but knew that would be taking the dare too far. Instead he looked deeply into her eyes and watched her face deepen it's redness when he lowered himself completely so that he was now sitting fully on her lap, still facing her.

He moved his hands off her shoulders and lifted her long hair up off the back of her neck on with one hand held it up on top of her head.

"Oppa!" Yoona protested, and began to push at his chest, "Too heavy!"

With his free hand he softly ran an index finger across her lips.

Taecyeon laughed as he watched her struggle under his weight. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Yoona, you light my fire with a single look." Yoona didn't know what to say, because the intimacy of his deep voice whispering in her ear had shaken her.

Her two friends came to her rescue as they tugged at Taecyeon to get off of their tiny framed sister.

"You're nuts!" said Tiffany.

Taecyeon joined in the laughter as he stood up and declared, "This is the last time you let me pick the game, right?"

After Sunny had to recite the English Alphabet backwards, and Yoona answered a truth question about her first kiss, it was Seulong's turn again. He gracefully picked a red block, as they all groaned when he read aloud, "Kiss someone on the lips."

He didn't hesitate for a moment when he jumped up from his seat and grabbed Taecyeon by both sides of his face and planted a huge kiss directly on his lips!

The room exploded as Taecyeon pushed Seulong off of him and tackled him on to the table. The tower quickly tumbled down as the girls picked up the wooden blocks and tossed them at the boys on the table.

After another hour of the game, and being sworn to secrecy, they gave each other code names that would allow them to exchange text messages without being discovered.

Taecyeon walked up to Yoona as she prepared to leave the room and asked her, "So what are the chances of finding out who it was?"

Yoona shook her head as a reply.

"But we are sworn to secrecy, so why not just tell me?"

"Because we promised we would never tell anyone."

Yoona had confessed her first kiss was with someone in SM Town. She was 16 years old at the time. Although he knew it was just a simple kiss, it slightly bothered him that her first had been given to one of her SM brothers. He didn't want to spoil the grand mood he was in with the sparks of jealously that began igniting.

He reached up and patted her head.

"I know your weakness now, Yoona. I might just have to give you another lap dance to pry it out of you."


	6. Chapter 6

She was so exhausted that she was almost to the point of tears. Waking up each morning at 4:00 a.m. in order to be at the studio was taking its toll on her. For weeks now she had been working on this drama set, but it seemed that because of a few holidays and weekends in between it had not seemed so hard.

But now two weeks had passed since her last day off. From the time she awoke until the time her manager brought her home after 11:00 p.m., she worked. Even her sister members felt sorry for her. They would often slip a note in her purse or pack energy drinks for her. She loved the thoughtful text messages she received from them, cheering her on.

However it was the voicemail messages from her newest friend, Taecyeon of 2PM that really surprised her. It wasn't like she had never received voicemails before, but it was not often. Usually her friends and family would suffice with text messages. But in the past two weeks she received three voicemail messages from him, encouraging her to keep working hard, and even playing a song in one, which brought a smile to her lips.

"Yoona, are you working hard? Are you giving it your all? Do you feel tired? If you do, I want you to take a deep breath and remember all those ahjummas and ahjusshis that watch you on TV twice a week. It's hard right? But just remember that they are your fans, and are cheering you on, just like me."

The first message was so gentle, and yet it motivated her to try harder at her craft.

The second message was more personal, and she smiled as she heard his deep voice speak to her softly, "How's my favorite actress? Has she eaten properly today? Is she taking the time to eat all her meals? Is it hard being around all those older Sunbae, Yoona? Do you wish Oppa was there to give you another lap dance? No? Ok how about just a song to remember me by?

_You know that it would be untrue  
You know that I would be a liar  
If I was to say to you  
Girl, we couldn't get much higher  
Come on baby, light my fire  
Come on baby, light my fire_"

Her smiled widened as he continued, "I know, bad right? But at least I made you smile, so it's all good. I know you can't call me back because of work, and that's ok. I just wanted you to know that I was thinking about my favorite nut. She made me laugh so hard when I played with her in the Café. Ah, but she's not around lately so I miss her. When do you think I'll see her again?"

A short pause made her heart beat faster.

"Tell Tiffany to call me because I can't bear to be without her."

Yoona left out a laugh as the manly voice chided her, "Just kidding! But all joking aside, I hope we can meet up again soon. I miss your laugh."

She shook her head at message that had come several days after the first. She didn't have a chance to call him back yet, because they had increased the filming pace since there were some legal issues going on with her lead actor. He needed to be away from the set in the coming weeks, so they were trying to squeeze in the filming in sooner than was originally scheduled.

Sang Woo sunbae was 14 years older than her, and had much more acting experience. Even though he was her senior, he was patient with her, and didn't complain when she messed up or forgot her lines. He treated her with respect, but she was not included in his inner circle either. He was much closer with the staff and PD than she was, and often they went out drinking after filming late into the evening. Yoona could barely keep her eyes open when it got that late, and he teased her about being too young to drink with them.

As she headed to her dressing room, she felt the pain in her lower back. Her back often ached when she danced for hours and hours but today she spent the entire day standing, walking and running in heels.

She groaned as she rubbed the lower back and she stopped walking and kicked off the heels and bent over to pick them up. She stretched her back in an arch as she stood up after retrieving the heels from the ground.

His voice floated into her mind as she recalled the third voicemail, "Usually I would take this has a big hint, and stop calling. I am starting to feel like I'm being ignored. But Tiffany told me about your schedule. Yoona, wherever you are right now, close your eyes and repeat after me: 'I am strong. I am invincible. I am Im Yoona, one of a kind.' Did you do it? You didn't right? Bad girl! What am I going to do with you? Anyways, I just want you to know that your biggest fan is cheering you on! Yoona, Fighting! Now call me so I can stop worrying about you!"

She closed her eyes, and as she winced at the low ache in her back and sore feet, she whispered, "I am strong. I am invincible…" then she chuckled as she opened her eyes and continued forward to her dressing room, "I am Im Yoona, one of a kind!"

She melted into the couch in her dressing room and barely rose her head up at the soft knocking on door. Her manager popped his head in and smiled, "How's my girl doing?"

"So tired!" she said, keeping her eyes closed.

"I brought you next week's script." She nodded without looking at him and pointed to the dressing table. "Just put it there for now."

"You should read it tonight. I know you're tired, but,"

"Oppa I can't open my eyes! And my back hurts!"

"You'll want to read it," he said again.

When she didn't respond he decided on a change of topic, "Did you see your present yet?"

Again, she didn't respond because she felt herself drifting off to a much overdue sleep.

"Looks like he even might have left you a note."

No response. The pain slowly started to ease up as she felt herself float to a better place.

"I'm surprised he dropped them by himself."

Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard that. Someone had dropped by? Who knew about her filming studio location? This wasn't just any fan. This was someone she knew. Some one… had left her a note. She fought off the drowsy wave that was pulling her back into a daze, and painfully opened her eyes a tad.

"Who?"

Her manager shrugged as he pointed to a small plastic covered bowl that had pink plastic wrap around it. On top was one of her very own cell phones. She never took her phones with her into the studio, for fear that she'd forget to turn it off. She made it a habit to leave it in the dressing room during filming.

Now curiosity had given her an extra surge of energy that she didn't have before.

Immediately after eyeing the bowl, her stomach growled, almost intuitively. She knew it had food inside, should could tell!

She somehow found the strength to slowly sit up and reach out. Her manager laughed at her effort, and spoiled her by walking across the room for the bowl and phone. He knew how utterly beat she was, and this was the least he could do for her.

She reached for the phone first and read a text message, "What am I supposed to do when you aren't around to play with me? I want you by my side. Oppa T."

She smiled as she saw the familiar name. Oppa T was how Teukkie always signed off his texts to her. It was her big brother that came by and dropped off this present … what was it? She quickly tore away the plastic wrap and popped open the bowl, and saw the rice balls and small spicy sausages that he had cut up. Teukkie. Her strength slowly began to fill her from the toes up.

As she devoured the meal she grinned at his text. She should call him back and thank him for coming by, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to see her. He brought her a snack, and always seemed to be watching out for her.

As she began to feel life flowing back into her body while eating she noticed something different about her phone screen. She raised it up to look at it while continuing to munch away at her meal.

"What the?" she mumbled to herself as she noticed the screen was no longer in Korean but in English!

She rolled her eyes and groaned. TEUKKIE! Even though he had texted her in Korean, he had somehow managed to go into her configuration settings on her phone and change the default to English instead of Korean. Now the entire menu and applications all read in English.

Typical Teukkie prank on her!

At least the little icon buttons were the same, no matter what language, but still! She noticed he had taken the time to move her applications around from screen to screen. Nothing was where it was supposed to be! It would take more brain cells than she had working right now to figure this out, with a new wave of exhaustion setting back in after she finished eating.

Maybe she would just wait until the morning to do it. Then she remembered that she wanted to call Taecyeon Oppa back and thank him for the messages.

Her manager carried her purse and helped her up from the couch and they headed to the van as she punched buttons, trying to pull up her contact list in the dark.

Just as she got to the list, the phone rang, and she noticed it was from the SuJu dorm fax line. She had phone numbers for many of the members, including the two fax machines in their dorm. Who would be calling from the fax line? Obviously Teukkie wasn't done playing a joke on her!

As she got into the back of the van and sprawled out on the back seat, she answered, "Oppa, what did you do to my phone! I'm so tired and I don't have the strength to fix it!"

"Oppa didn't do anything to your phone, at least not this Oppa!"

It wasn't Teukkie. It was Yesunggie! What a pleasant surprise!

"But why are you calling me from the fax line Oppa?"

"Because our precious Teukkie took my phones away from me. Do you know where he is right now?"

"What? Why did he take your phones away?"

"Why does Teukkie do half the things he does? Because he's a big kid!"

"Wait until you hear what he did to my phone!"

Just as she began to giggle at both of their combined frustration with their older brother, the phone beeped.

"Oppa, hang on a second, I have an incoming call."

Yoona fumbled with the screen trying to place Yesung on hold while she picked up the next call. Caller ID was blocked, but she had a feeling it was going to be the culprit prankster.

Finally she clicked on a button that connected her.

"Oppa, I know that's you! You're killing me here! You have to come over tonight and fix this!"

She heard an intake of breath, and then a much deeper than expected voice replied, "I'm on my way, but I had no idea that I had that kind of impact on you… so you missed me too?"

Now it was Yoona's turn to gasp!

"TeacYeon Oppa?"

"I should hope so," he chuckled, "At least last I checked. Now who were you expecting? Who's killing you besides me? Which one of the dwarfs is playing with you this late at night?"

Before she could answer he added, "You must be busy right now. I can call back later…" his voice softened.

"Wait!" she called out to him.

Her mind raced as she thought quickly how to explain things to him, but fatigue had already weighed her down and she wasn't able to react quickly enough.

He knew he shouldn't but he took a risk, "Do you want me to come over and see you, Yoona?" He added, "We could go for a drive, or just talk. It's been two weeks…"

She was so tempted to say YES, but she knew how late it was, and she had another early cast call back at the studio the following morning.

When she didn't answer him, he thought of a thousand things to say at once, comments flew into his mind about how much he missed her, how badly he wanted to see her and have her rest her head on his shoulder and tell him about her day, and how he had intended on calling her to leave her another motivational message. He hadn't expected her to actually answer her phone this late. But she did. Yet she hadn't been expecting it to be him, she was looking for one of them. Again. Them. And now he was probably sounding desperate to her.

The pause was then broken by a voice that surprised both of them, "Yoona, why does _**Ok Taecyeon**_ have your phone number? And why is he talking to you informally like this?"

Yesung's voice was stern and he had put a sarcastic emphasis on Taecyeon's name. Much more stern than she'd ever heard him speak to her before. Wait… why was Yesung on their call?

All she could do was look dumbly at her iPhone while clapping her hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. The illuminated screen stared back at her with nothing but English words. She groaned and closed her eyes as she realized that she must have merged the two calls instead of putting Yesung Oppa on hold.

"Who's that?" Taecyeon sounded a bit perturbed.

"What's it to _you_? Who the hell are you to ask Yoona to go out and so late at night too!"

She wanted to make it stop. She wanted to throw the phone down and pretend this didn't just happen.

Taecyeon did not back down, "Look, Dwarf #1, #2 or #13, it doesn't really matter to me, but Yoona and I were having a private conversation, and I have no idea how you butted in, but you can butt right out."

"Yah!" Yesung raised his voice, "How about you come over here and let me fix something for you! Like that mouth of yours!"

"Yesunggie Oppa, I'm sorry, but Teukkie Oppa changed my phone to be in English, and I merged our calls. I'm sorry," she repeated.

She was apologizing to him! Why? Now Taecyeon felt something flare up inside. He could hear it in her voice, she had lost all of her vigor. Instead of having a private conversation it had turned into something she had to justify to them. That's the last thing he wanted to do to her.

"It's time for you to say goodbye, Ok Taecyeon." Yesung warned. After a few seconds of silence he added, "Yoona, Oppa is headed over now."

"Oppa, it's ok, it's late. I'm not even at the dorm yet. We are just leaving the studio."

"Exactly," added Taecyeon, "Too late for you, Yesung."

"Taecyeon Oppa," Yoona sighed. She was sounding distraught now. He didn't like it.

"Yoona, I'll come over. You don't need them, it's ok."

"Are you crazy!" Yesung's voice even got louder, "Didn't you hear me? HANG UP NOW!"

Yoona rubbed her temple as she tried to muster any remaining energy she had, "Oppas, please! I just want to go to bed."

Taecyeon could not resist, he had been pushed to a boiling point, "That's fine with me Yoona, I can tuck you in."

"You're dead!" Yesung actually yelled into the phone. "DEAD! You just wait! Yoona, Oppa is hanging up now, because I'm on this damn fax line. I'll be over in 15 minutes."

"Yesunggie Oppa," she pleaded, but it was too late, she had heard the click with a slam of the receiver.

"Why?" she asked Taecyeon. "Why did you do that? You provoked him."

"Because they don't own you, Yoona." He was frustrated at the turn of events, and yet at the same time pleased with himself for pushing Yesung to the point of racing out his dorm. He would have chuckled but he could tell she wasn't in the mood.

"I think I should go," she sighed.

"So does that mean I can't tuck you in?"

She clicked the red bar that she knew would disconnect the call. This young man could be so frustrating! She half worried that he would actually come to her dorm as well, and thought maybe she should call someone else to keep him from coming.

Her mind raced from Taecyeon to Yesung. Omo! Yesung Oppa now knew! She dreaded facing him. She knew he would scold her for being on such terms with Ok Taecyeon, and even worse, he would tell each one of the Super Junior brothers she was closest to. Suddenly the blood drained from her face. Dong Hae. Teukkie. Siwonnie. Ryeowookie. And Yesung! The only other man that she was closer to then these was her own father.

Omo! Her head filled with thoughts of their disapproval and she wondered how long it would take Yesung to contact the others. Thank goodness Teukkie had taken his phones away!

"Everything ok?" her manager asked.

"How fast can you get me to the dorm?" she replied. "It has to be faster than 15 minutes!"


	7. Chapter 7

As the van drove past a small group of fans outside the gate, the voices raised and chanted, "So Nyuh Shi Dae!" waving large, brightly colored signs and screaming as it slowed to enter the security gate. Every morning, afternoon and evening there were varying sizes of the crowd but they were always there. There were equal numbers of women to men in the group of fans that pounded on the van as it drove slowly past them and down the drive way. The black van continued down the drive way, and never stopped at the front entrance but always rounded the building so that the manager could deliver his precious cargo privately in the rear entrance. He knew his job well, and always protected her.

He was not over-bearing or too strict with her, she got along with him well. They had mutual respect for each other, and he rarely scolded her. He spoiled her like a father would spoil an only child.

As they pulled up to the rear of the building he asked her gently, "Do you want me to help you upstairs?"

"No thanks, Oppa," she responded, "I've got renewed energy now!"

Her manager glanced around as he helped her down from the van and noticed a sole couple over by the door, embracing.

He shook his head and answered, "Some people have no shame! Can't they go upstairs and do that?"

She drew her attention to the couple and smiled, the man's back was to her, and the woman's face was partially covered as she snuggled into her partner's neck. Yoona almost envied them. When she saw tender scenes like this one, she wished she had someone special to snuggle up to, and to hold tightly.

With a deep sigh, she waved at her manager and he waved back as she headed to the door. She looked down at her phone and confirmed how late it was! Forty-five minutes had passed since she left the studio. There was typical late night traffic in Seoul and for some reason she almost felt relieved that she had missed Yesung.

The fuzzy exhaustion had cleared from her mind as her heart pounded. She had not even talked about her new friendship with Taecyeon to all of the members yet. Sunny and Tiffany knew, and she mentioned it to Yuri because she was her room mate. But the others didn't know, and she wondered what would happen if they misunderstood. The girls had known the 2PM members since late 2008 when they posed in a photo shoot with them for Elite Uniforms. It was about 6 months ago when they had first collaborated together.

Everyone knew the agency had a strict 'no dating' policy for the girls, even though it was never publically stated. It would keep them away from gossip rag scandals if they just did not date at all. But she knew as well as the others that several of the girls had indeed dated in secret, and even had hidden boyfriends that they would go out with late at night or when they were spending holidays with their family, they would find time to visit with their boyfriends. Sometimes it was late night phone calls that lasted until the morning. Sometimes it was web-cam private chats on the internet. And sometimes they would sneak out at night. Jessica, Hyoyeon, Sunny and even Tiffany had dated this way. The others girls had good friendships with some boys and fellow co-idols of SM Town and other groups, but they never really dated at all.

As she approached the keypad to key in a code for the front glass doors into the rear lobby she heard a giggle come from behind her and noticed the couple had decided take their affair upstairs after all.

That giggle was a bit uncharacteristic she thought, as she walked through the doors.

"Yoona," a deep voice called her gently from behind.

She wasn't expecting it, and jumped as she flew around to face the couple.

"Omo!" she exclaimed, dropping her purse to the ground.

There in front of her stood a gorgeous woman with long black hair, and none other than Yesung! She looked at Yesung with surprise and again at his date. Then the recognition immediately sunk in, as she eyed the sculpted high cheek bones, and the sharp chin and dark eyes.

"Ryeowookie, Oppa?" she asked, not believing what she was seeing.

He smiled broadly at her and answered, "Tonight it's Unnie!"

Ryeo Wook continued to hold tightly on to Yesung's arm and Yoona cocked her head to the side, trying to understand what she saw.

"It was the only way to get in past the crowd," Yesung explained, as he tried to pry Ryeo Wook's arm off of his own.

"But why?" Yoona still didn't understand. Why would he go to this extreme?

"Because I could not take the chance of even one night passing without talking to you about what happened!"

Her pulse increased and she cleared her throat.

"Oppa, listen," she started to explain.

"No Yoona, you listen." He paused and looked over at Ryeo Wook, "Aish! Really! You can let go now!"

Wookie giggled and shook his head, "Don't wanna!" he said in a baby voice.

Yesung managed to shake his arm free and took Yoona by the hand and pulled her forward into a small sofa, table and a few large cushioned chairs. Ryeo Wook refused to be shaken off so easily and gave his best effort to stay in character, and picked up Yoona's purse off the floor, put it over his own shoulder, and performed a perfect female model catwalk behind them.

They quickly approached the sofa, and Yesung pulled Yoona down to sit next to him, leaving no room for Ryeo Wook. He ended up sitting on one of the large chairs and daintly crossed his legs and straightened his wig, as he patted his head.

"Not him, Yoona. Not Ok Taecyeon. I thought you knew better!" He wasn't asking her why nor did he want details, he was telling her no.

"We're just friends, Oppa!" she managed to say.

"Not even as friends, Yoona! Ok Taecyeon is no match for you … not even as a friend. Everyone knows what he's like. He would never be good enough for you in a million years."

Ryeo Wook nodded his head in agreement, flipping his hair over his shoulder.

"Yesung Oppa is right, Yoona. That one is not for our precious flower. Take Unnie's advice, stay as far away as you can from his type!"

Yesung rolled his eyes at his friend and then gently squeezed Yoona's hand.

She looked down at their hands, still grasped together, and then back into Yesung's intent eyes.

"Not him." He said firmly.

"Who else did you tell?" Yoona asked, as she glanced back over to her "unnie" Ryeo Wook, and he gave her a sly grin as he winked at her.

"So far it's just Wookie and me. There's no way in hell that I'm going to be the one to tell Teukkie or …. " they all paused and looked uncomfortably around. "DongHae Oppa" Yoona whispered softly as she completed his sentence.

Yoona knew Yesunggie would not risk telling any managers or executives from SM Town, but he would tell her inner circle. She had no doubt about that. He was passionate. He was daring. He was also very possessive of her. He treasured his relationship with Yoona.

Some fans would even speculate on whether or not they were dating because of how comfortable she was with him, and how he tended to hold her hand, or put his arm around her in public.

Sometimes she wondered if he was serious about her. Once he told her, "Don't date other men, Yoona. Save yourself for Oppa." Was he just teasing her? After all, Teukkie had told her the same thing, and DongHae did not even have to say it outloud, she knew by a single glance from him when he disapproved of something.

DongHae could be very gentle and tender as well. There were a few times when he even cried in front of Yoona and with her, when her mother had to stay in the hospital for an emergency surgery. But she had also seen another side once. It was only once.

She looked back at Ryeo Wook and he stopped smiling. It was as if they both had the exact same thought.

"You and I both know him, Yoona," Ryeo Wook asked her in a serious tone, "you don't even want to think about what he'll do to Ok Taecyeon!"

Yoona remembered that night several years ago, when she sleeping on a couch in one of the dance studios. She had been dancing and practicing all day with her fellow members. The others had gone ahead of her, but she waited behind because she had to meet with her manager and some of the oppas from SuJu to discuss an upcoming photo shoot for Spao Magazine.

Ryeo Wook had volunteered to go down the hall and get her when Siwon asked where she was, and where was DongHae?

He shook his head at the sleeping beauty before him and reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen. He knelt down in front of her and studied her flawless face and skin. She really was a beauty. She was perfect in every way. And yet she never believed that she was pretty. No matter how many times they told her, and he reminded her, she would shake her head and laugh it off.

He couldn't resist. He started with her forehead and drew squiggly lines across it. He covered his mouth with his free hand so he wouldn't bust out laughing at himself.

He continued down to her small button nose and then he paused. He stared down at her lips that were ever so slightly parted. He could not stop looking at them. It was almost as if they beckoned him. He felt himself lean forward.

While she slumbered she felt something vaguely brush over her forehead, and down her nose. She flinched away, and then seconds later she felt something very softly touch her lips.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the soft, almost girlish face of Ryeo Wookie, very close to her, and a pen in his hand.

She struggled to bring him into focus.

What just happened?

"Oppa?"

His eyes grew very large at the realization of what he had just done.

"Omo! Yoona! I'm sorry! I … I'm so sorry!"

He backed away, almost shocked at his own behavior and put his hands over his own lips. He had stolen a kiss from her! While she was sleeping, he stole her first kiss! He hadn't planned on it… but before he knew it, he kissed her.

As he bent down to awaken her, he saw how beautiful and innocent she was. He was pulled in to her by an unseen force, and… he had stolen a kiss.

He looked horrified.

They were suddenly interrupted by a burst of the door banging open.

DongHae had stood there, breathing very deeply and quickly, his chest rising and falling as he glared at both of them.

"What did you do, Ryeo Wook!"

DongHae had been watching through the glass window in the door, amused at first until…

Yoona realized now what had happened.

It was too late, before she could say anything, DongHae ran over to Ryeo Wook and grabbed him by the collar with one hand and then with his free hand he formed a fist and punched it forcefully into his friend's abdomen.

She knew she should be angry at him because it was her first kiss! But she wasn't. She loved Ryeo Wook. She loved him in a way that she never felt for the others. Almost like she was his big sister, instead of the other way around. He was always gentle. He was like a baby. He was also like having a sister. He was so pretty, so tender.

"How could you!" DongHae demanded as he punched an upper cut right under Ryeo Wook's chin.

"DongHae Oppa!" Yoona screamed. "Stop, please!" She jumped up from the couch and grabbed on to his back pulling him away from his target.

Ryeo Wook's tears slowly ran down his cheeks as he rubbed both his hands together quickly the way some Korean kids do when they want to beg their parents for something.

"Hyung, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't … I really didn't mean to!"

DongHae raised his arm up again, and he was about to strike, but Yoona pulled on it with all her might.

"Oppa, it's ok please! Please stop! He didn't mean anything by it. I was sleeping! It doesn't even count does it?"

All he could see was bright red so he tried squeezing his eyes closed but the red did not disappear.

"She was SLEEPING? Are you an ANIMAL? Do you not have any SELF CONTROL?"

Ironic he would ask that, having his arm raised up in a fist, Yoona thought.

He opened his eyes and gave Ryeo Wook the deadliest look he had ever seen before in his life.

"If you value your life little brother, you will leave this room this instant, and never ever repeat a word about what happened tonight. To ANYONE! You got that?"

Ryeo Wook nodded madly in agreement and then looked over so apologetically to Yoona.

He dropped down to his knees and the tears flowed even harder, "I wouldn't hurt you for the world, Yoona. I love you. I am so sorry! I don't know what overcame me!"

Up until that night she had even sometimes wondered if Ryeo Wook might not be gay, because of how he clung to Yesung and Heechul so much. But seeing him now, she felt a pure sisterly love for him and she nodded softly back to him, not daring to let go of DongHae's raised arm.

"I love you too, Oppa. It's ok. Really."

DongHae pulled himself free from Yoona and walked over to the couch and kicked it while letting out a groan.

Ryeo Wook knew this was his cue, and he retreated quickly and quietly out the door, closing it behind him.

Yoona didn't know what to say to DongHae. She had never seen him be so bullish before, and never had she dreamed he would hit a fellow member!

"Oppa," she started, but didn't know how to continue.

He flew around to face her and then looked past her to the door. He marched past her almost as quickly as he had flown in.

"Oppa!" she called out to him just as he reached the door.

"You're not a kid anymore, Yoona." He said angrily at her, without turning to face her. "You're 16 now! You need to be aware of your surroundings. You can't just fall asleep wherever you please!"

He wouldn't look at her. She felt her own tears fill her eyes and tried again, this time much less confident, and with a shaky voice, "But Oppa," she attempted.

He heard her voice crack and he immediately felt something inside of him release, almost like letting hot air out of a balloon.

"I'm sorry," was all she managed to whimper out.

He reached for the door handle and knew he should just keep walking, but instead he clicked on the lock button.

He turned to face her now, and his eyes were still intent, but they were much less fierce. He walked over to her and took her face into his big hands. He used his thumbs to brush away her tears and this only caused her to sob freely, leaning into his hands.

"Ayyy Yoona. Don't you know how irresistible you are? Haven't I told you that hundreds of times?"

She reached up to wipe away her runny nose and he grinned down at her tear stained face.

"I'm sorry!" she sobbed again.

DongHae shook his head and sighed. "I guess I'll just have to show you," he said. And he leaned in to kiss her forehead. She hiccupped loudly and he chuckled. He didn't remove his lips from her head, but trailed them slowly, gently down her soft small nose. His lips kissed the tip of her nose, following the ink trail that Ryeo Wook had drawn on her.

"Even with these stupid pen marks all over your face, snot running down your nose, and your eyes all puffy and red," he dragged his lips over to her right cheek and kissed it tenderly. "Even like this, you're beautiful."

Her crying had subsided instantly and her heart pounded within her chest as she reached up and placed her own hands over his as he held her face.

He raised her chin up and nipped at it as he whispered to her, "Just because no one saw, doesn't mean it didn't happen."

She didn't dare speak a word. She wasn't even sure she could form a sentence at this point. She was overcome with an excitement and rush of emotion that she had felt periodically whenever her oppas played a bit too rough or rowdy with her, but nothing compared to this level. Her heart beat so quickly at his closeness and she felt an electric sensation cover her.

He grazed his lips across her left cheek and placed another kiss on it. He nuzzled his nose into her left ear and then softly bit her earlobe bringing it into his mouth and sucking softly on it.

She closed her eyes automatically unaware of an escaped a deep, shaky sigh that came from her own lips. She felt his hot breath on her neck as he placed a tender kiss just below her ear.

Her legs nearly buckled under her and she felt her knees go weak. She felt her head cock to the side, giving DongHae free access to her long, slender white neckline.

"You must never let your guard down," he whispered deeply as he coached her, "because you never know…"

He paused and stared into her hooded eyes, she could feel every breath he took.

She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling brightly and freshly moist, anticipating his next move. She leaned in closer, not even realizing that she was being pulled into him by some unknown force.

DongHae smiled a knowing smile, and his eyes grew darker as he leaned forward continuing softly, "You never know…" his lips brushed hers with every word he whispered, "when someone will swoop down and eat you up, unexpectedly."


	8. Chapter 8

TaecYeon frowned at his reflection in the mirror. He couldn't get used to the white surgical face mask that covered his nose and mouth, and he certainly didn't like the bloodshot, watery eyes looking back at him. He swallowed again, and against his own will, he groaned aloud. The doctor had diagnosed him with strep throat, and faster than a 50% off sale, his manager Min Jae Seo, rounded up the rest of the 2PM boys and carted them off away from the contagious, sickly one. He felt like a leper. When he walked back into the dorm apartment, they parted like the red sea, when they saw his face mask. The worse thing that can befall a singer is to have any type of illness that affected their throat. So he didn't blame them… but still they all left him completely alone. He removed the mask briefly, just to allow him enough time to gargle with warm salt water in attempt to soothe the pain.

He peered up at the ceiling while he gargled and closed his burning eyes. At times like this he felt like he wanted to be held. He knew it wasn't manly, but who cares… he felt like a truck hit him and no one was around to pick up the pieces. He spit out the excessive water into the sink and refilled his mouth with more of the remedy.

He thought about her without even wanting to. It happened almost daily now. Whenever he wasn't actually engaged in an activity that caused him to focus, his mind would wander back to Yoona.

It's not even like they were that close, but the short time he spent with her over lunch and at their first 'nut club' meeting was enough to re-ignite the sparks he had felt when he met her for the Elite Uniform catalog shoot and the Idol Army show earlier that year.

He remembered how shy she seemed at first when the 2PM members stood to greet the SNSD girls for their catalog shoot. It was just before the 2PM debut, and they were so excited to be able to meet the gorgeous and famous girls of SNSD that it was all they talked about for days since they had heard about it.

Back then he first thought Yoona to be unapproachable, until the caterers arrived with the food. She was the first one to line up, and he queued up behind her. He watched in admiration as she piled food onto her plate and made a comment about her healthy appetite.

"It seems like all my favorite things have something in common: great food which is good for the body, wonderful friends that are good for the heart, and my family which is good for my soul."

"What about your fans? And boys? They don't fit in your 'favorites'?"

She licked her fingers to remove the sauce that had spilt onto them from her plate and replied without hesitation, "Fans are good for our well-being, because they keep us employed and without them, we would not be here. And boys?" she shrugged, "They are either friends or family at this point in my life." With that she laughed at herself and scooped one more serving on to her plate.

It was that same laugh that rang out every time he met her that kept him wanting to hear it more and more. It was infectious. More infectious that his strep throat, he thought.

"You're completely infatuated," Taec said aloud, talking to himself.

No doubt that it was one sided, he wasn't going to fool himself. But still, it's not like he could just stop his feelings either. All he wanted to do was try to spend more time talking to her, because when he was with her, nothing else mattered.

"Wait, didn't Khunnie say something last night about a meeting?"

His mind was foggy and he tried to remember. It didn't help that his head pounded and he knew he should be sleeping it off. But it was so boring to sleep all day, and he couldn't now even if he had wanted to, since his throat hurt so badly.

After he spat into the sink for the final time he covered his face with the mask.

He headed back to his room and glanced at the closed laptop on his desk. He grabbed it and brought it back to the bottom bunk bed. After getting back under the covers, he opened the laptop so that the keyboard was balanced on his chest, and the screen hovered over his face.

He logged on to one his favorite online game sites and found almost as quickly as he logged in that he was not even up to playing his favorite role playing battle game. He sighed as he logged back out.

He closed the screen and placed the laptop across his chest as he attempted another swallow, and grimaced. It wasn't quite has bad, since he had gargled, but it still hurt like trying to drink nails.

That's when he remembered!

Khunnie will be meeting with Yoona today! He had mentioned it the night before, trying to cheer Taec up, asking if he wanted him to relay any messages to her.

"That's right," Taec remembered. "They are going to be on some show together. Lucky dog!"

He missed her. He missed talking to her. He missed her laugh. He missed how she would often hit him when he teased her or when she laughed hard. That made him smile. So many girls he knew would giggle or have a soft, light laugh. But not Yoona. She thoroughly enjoyed herself when she laughed, and so did those around her. You couldn't help but be drawn in to the laugh and join her the way she threw her head back, and almost cackled. It was so unlady-like. Yet it was uniquely her own, that was one of the things he adored about her.

But ever since their three-way conversation with Yesung, he hadn't had a chance to talk to her. Her schedule was full from morning through the late night, and his own wasn't anything to frown on either. With the activities that were planned for 2PM's new song, he wasn't surprised that his immune system was worn down and he got sick.

Still, at least he took some comfort in knowing that she would know about him being under the weather. Khun would tell her, wouldn't he?

Then again, this was Khunnie. This was the Thai Prince that melted hearts of women around the world. This was the same NichKhun that battled ChanSung for Yoona on Idol Army in the beginning of the year!

Taec didn't want to think about that.

He quickly re-opened the laptop and decided he needed an ego boost. He logged on to his Cyworld site and began reading some of his fan messages.

"_I love Oppa so much!"_

"_Oppa, can you sing to me please?"_

"_Taecyeon, I dream about you every night!"_

"_Oppa, can you come visit my school, please?"_

"_Oppa, you make every day brighter for me!"_

He smiled as he kept reading … without understanding why, he really felt his spirits slowly start to lift. He didn't even know these girls, yet they believed in him, and truly supported him. It made him want to get well soon.

He started to feel a less sorry for himself and decided to check out some of his member's pages as well. He belonged to all of their fan sites, and would often leave them messages under his secret identities!

"Let's start with Leader, Jay," Taec smiled to himself. It was time to play!

Nichkhun sat across from the conference table and smiled at Yoona as the director continued to speak. Truthfully he had not heard the last five minutes what was being said, because he couldn't help glancing over at her.

Every now and again she would look over at him and return his smile and nod in agreement as she listened to the director.

He was caught off guard when she asked him out loud, "So what do you think?"

"Uhhh" he was screwed. He had no idea what the director had said! He didn't want to look like a fool in front of her, but he had found himself under a spell, just watching her across the table.

"Well," he cleared his throat. "What do you think?"

She smiled back at him so kindly. "Ah, so maybe you didn't understand it all because he spoke so quickly, right?"

She looked back at the director, "Can we talk about it amongst ourselves first?"

The director looked at Khun and then shrugged. Poor foreign boy. He knew his Korean wasn't strong, but he thought at least he should understand the basic storyboarding of the concept.

"I'll go get a coffee and be back in about 30 minutes," replied the director.

Yoona stood up and bowed slightly and NichKhun jumped to his feet and repeated the action.

She then waited for the director to leave the room and waved to Khunnie to follow her to the front of the room where the white boards were covered with colored marker drawings.

"So it's a love story, basically." Yoona explained slowly in simple Korean. She waited for a reaction from Khunnie, and when he smiled and nodded she continued.

"There's a young boy and a girl who fall in love," she began and she pointed to the first drawing. She then indicated the height of a small young child with her hand and NichKhun smiled even bigger.

She thought he couldn't understand Korean! She mistook his pauses for a lanuage barrier!

"I got it, Yoona-shii" Khun tried to reassure her.

He remembered the beginning of the story but was distracted by her towards the middle and completely blanked out on the ending!

"Then how about we give it a try?" she asked.

"Give what a try?" he repeated.

She thought momentarily. "Your reaction! What would your reaction be if you had met your first love again after 15 years?"

"I'm not sure," Khun answered honestly, "Because I haven't ever fallen in love yet."

"No way!" the surprised shock was impossible to hide. "You're kidding, right?"

He gave her another one of his dashing smiles and shook his head.

"Honestly!"

"I don't believe you! After all, you're from the States, and you've been on many dates!"

"Does that mean am supposed to be in love with all the girls I date?"

"But then why would you go out with them if you didn't like them?"

"Who said I didn't like them?" he grinned at her.

When she cocked her head to one side, he stepped a few steps closer to her. He felt comfortable closing the gap of space between them.

"Just because you date someone, Yoona-shii, doesn't mean you love them. And liking isn't the same as loving is it?"

"I know that," she said a bit too quickly, almost defensively, "I'm not naïve!"

"Oh I didn't say that either," he tried to smooth things over so she wouldn't misunderstand him, "I am just trying to explain that I've never fallen hard enough for any girl to consider myself 'in love.' I guess I'm just waiting for the right girl."

He continued as he watched her closely mull that over in her mind. "If I like a girl, I want to get to her better, so I ask her out. It just so happens that it always remained at 'liking' and never advanced beyond that."

"I see," she noticed he had actually gotten quite close to her. She turned to face the board so he wouldn't see her face. She felt the heat in her cheeks blush, and she wasn't even sure why.

Maybe it was because he had just revealed something very personal, or maybe it was because of the topic of this mini drama they were working on about a love story, but for whatever reason, she was feeling nervous now. Even though she didn't know him very well, but he had always been very friendly with her whenever they met for work related activities.

He leaned in closer to her and reached around her shoulder, his face was directly behind her head. "So what happens here?" he pointed to the 4th panel of the drawing.

Her eyes followed his arm down to his hand and she forced herself to look at the board.

The drawing of the two stick figures had a heart drawn around it.

"That represents the couple, I mean us… well, the couple… it represents us falling back in love ."

"Ahhh" he spoke softly and she shivered slightly at the sound. "Rekindled love."

When she didn't respond continued to speak softly to her, inches away from her hair.

"Have you felt it before?"

He wasn't purposely intending to bait her, because he actually liked Yoona. She was one of the few girls that made everyone feel comfortable around them. She wasn't flamboyant or coy. She didn't try to flirt with him immediately after he walked in the room the way most girls would. But he also realized that she didn't seem to be drawn to him either, which rather puzzled him. Not that he was conceited, but he knew that most women found him to be attractive. So why wasn't she reacting to him?

Without realizing that he was doing it, he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around to face him. He reached up and raised her chin up with his right hand while his left hand leaned against the white board.

"Have you ever felt so strongly about a person that you don't want to leave their side?"

His eyes twinkled at her. She had never seen such big, sparkling eyes as his this close before. But he was much too close for comfort.

"Wait a minute," she pushed him back at arms reach, "too close!"

"I'm just trying to understand that story line, Yoon-shii. I'm trying to understand what love is."

Yoona saw the earnest look in his eyes, and wasn't sure she should answer him or not. He wasn't trying to seduce her, but every time she looked in his eyes, she felt like moving in closer to him.

"All I know is," she looked directly into his gaze, and then smiled at him, "when you love someone, no one else in the world matters as much as they do. They make you want to be a better person."

And with that she walked back to her seat and sat down. She began writing down some notes on her tablet and then almost as an after thought added, "Don't worry, Nichkhun-shii, that day will come."

He laughed out loud causing her to look up. He was genuinely pleased at what she said, even though she didn't think it was funny at all. She chuckled at his response and watched him come sit next to her.

"I'm sure it will. I have no doubt." He looked directly at her.

One of the assistant's popped in and said the director was sending in lunch for them because he had some urgent phone calls he had to take.

"Lunch with a prince!" Yoona smiled.

He laughed again at that, and for the next hour they found themselves in deep conversation about things that were of little import, and seemed to vary between topics of existence of UFO's and what places in the world they'd like to visit if they could travel freely without being recognized.

Taec had felt a surge of energy come from all of the mischievous comments he left on his fellow members pages! He was almost done when his thoughts wandered back to Yoona.

He couldn't help himself. She didn't have a mini home page or a Cyworld site. She most definitely did not have a FaceBook or MySpace site, very few Koreans did. But there were hundreds of fansites that were dedicated to her. He gave into temptation and created a bogus login at one of the most well known sites.

One of the advantages of these sites were the galleries! He immediately found himself clicking and viewing page after page of her beautiful smiling face, her soft far off look she had while advertising a skin care product, her sexy look she had while sleeping, and then he saw a few shots of her with those Super Juniors again! Her and Siwon Choi were arm in arm. He stared at the look on her face for a few seconds, trying to determine if that smile was genuinely enjoying the closeness of the male next to her.

"Bad girl!" he scolded her image jokingly. "How come you look so good with that rich brat?"

He considered leaving a menacing comment on the photo but instead he navigated back over to the last 2PM member site to visit. As he logged into NichKhun's Cyworld page, he wondered how the prince was getting along with Yoona. Knowing Khun, he would have her charmed in an instant.

"_Oppa,"_ Taec started to type, _"I simply can't live without you! I kiss your photo every night before I go to bed and every morning when I wake up. Oppa, I could not bear it if you got a girlfriend! Please stay loyal to your HOTTEST fans!"_

Taec's envy of Khun spending the day with Yoona brought out the devil in him as he continued, "_Oppa, please marry me!"_

"Serves you right!" he laughed as he clicked on the 'submit' button.

He closed the laptop screen and sighed deeply.

"I guess either Khun didn't tell her or she doesn't care that I'm over here dying."

When he closed his eyes, the photos he had just seen on her fan site flashed in his mind.

"The headache, the sore throat, the fever… none of it comes close to the pang in my heart that I get when I think you're ignoring my very existence, Yoona."

The director had been explaining the final changes on the story board and both of the idols took notes.

Yoona watched Khunnie remove the page from his planner he was writing on and began folding it in to an origami shape. As the director wrapped up the meeting she closed her own table and gathered her things.

NichKhun bowed to the director and thanked him for being patient with him.

He walked over to Yoona and bowed to her. He then reached out his hand for an American style hand shake, and Yoona smiled at his gentleman-like gesture.

When she placed her hand in his she felt him exchange a piece of paper from his hand to hers and she looked up at his face he gave her a devastatingly charming wink and said, "Be sure to call TaecYeon sometime soon, Yoona-shii, he's got strep throat and is probably being a big fat baby all by himself."

With that he was out the door and she was left looking down at the piece of paper in her hand. She tucked it into her pocket and reached for her cell phone.


	9. Chapter 9

"Yobseyo?" a female voice answered.

Yoona pulled her phone away instantly from her ear and glanced back at the screen to make sure she had dialed the right number. It was definitely Taecyeon's phone number.

Yoona unconsciously found herself bowing as she responded, "Yobseyo." She paused briefly and then asked, "Excuse me, is this Ok Taecyeon's phone?"

The older female voice answered curtly, "Who is this?"

Yoona felt very nervous now. She had never called him before! Wouldn't you know, that the first attempt she would end up speaking to someone in his company, or worse, maybe it was his mother?

She paused briefly as she considered how to answer, "I'm a friend that is calling to see how he is feeling…"

"He isn't taking any calls," the older female voice informed her, "He needs his rest. Please don't call back." And with that, the phone went dead.

Yoona was horrified. She had not meant to disturb him, and if that was his mother, she must have given off a very bad impression by calling on a boy! She wished there was a way to have taken back the phone call!

The aunty that took care of the boys' meals and helped with their laundry turned off the phone and placed it in her apron pocket. It was a good thing she had decided to pick it up off of the blanket when she came in to find Taecyeon sleeping so soundly. Poor exhausted boy needed his rest, and knowing the way those kids always played on their phones, he would need her intervention to help him remain rested.

She went back about her business of making him rice porridge as she shook her head at the thought of the phone call. Girls nowadays have no shame calling boys. How forward! The thought riled her and she quickly turned back on the phone and went to the 'recent calls' history. She glanced down at the name, and all it said was "My Deer."

"Hrumph" she snorted. He doesn't need these distractions. She swiftly swiped her finger across the name and clicked on the delete button. After turning the phone off, she smiled to herself. Her boys would need her protection from these crazy girls. They were much too busy to be bothered by the likes of such whims.

Yoona was now pacing the studio hallway. She had only wanted to check to see if her friend was ok. "That's not a crime, is it?" She tried to console herself but the more she thought about that rough, authoritative female voice on the other end of the phone, the more she cringed.

She shook her head and then quickly walked to the elevator. Her manager would be waiting downstairs for her, and it was rude of her to keep him waiting. Just as the elevator door opened she looked up to face three very familiar faces.

Siwon, Teukkie and DongHae each grinned at her as her mouth dropped open in surprise. "Oppas, what are you doing here?"

The elevator door began to close before she had even moved, and Siwon grabbed the moving door to hold it open. Teukkie reached in and grabbed Yoona's wrist and gently pulled her out, "You going to stay in there all day, or come out and face the music?"

Her face paled as she considered what he had just said. "Oh no," her thoughts raced, "They know! They've come to give me a beating!"

"Wh..wh.. what?" she stammered.

DongHae looked down at her pale face, and recognized the panic in her eyes.

"Im Yoona," he said as he walked up to her and looked directly into her eyes, inches away from her face, "Why are you stuttering? What have you done?"

Yoona quickly looked away from the piercing eyes that questioned her and looked at Siwon. His head was cocked to one side, a big grin on his face, as he rubbed his chin, "Yoona, little sister, I think you're feeling guilty about something aren't you? DongHae is right, you seem to be hiding something from us."

She was dead. She closed her eyes and tried to think of how to explain this to her brothers. She knew that they were very protective of her, and her member sisters. But of all of the girls in SNSD, she seemed to be the closest to the Super Junior members because she had always joked around with them, played with them, and teased them. She had a 'choding' way about her when she was with them, she could act like an elementary school girl, and have them rolling with laughter.

They weren't laughing now.

She swallowed deeply and then turned to face her eldest brother, Lee Teuk. Teukkie smiled warmly at her and pulled on her wrist swiftly pulling her into his chest. He released her wrist and put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze.

"Don't let those mean monsters scare you, little one. Your Teukkie will always be here to protect you."

He let out a soft laugh, and then rubbed the top of her head, "They are only kidding you, silly girl."

DongHae and Siwon joined in the head rubbing, completely making a mess of her hair.

Siwon tugged on a few strands of hair and after she yelped, he said, "And that's what you get for not calling us back."

Yoona pulled herself away from Teukkie's chest and turned to face Siwon, "Call you back?"

"Don't tell me that your phone is still messed up?" Teukkie laughed when he thought of his prank on her.

DongHae explained, "Each of us called you to ask you to come with us for dinner so we can plan for your birthday next week." He continued to watch Yoona closely, recognizing that she was nervous and almost upset or something. He couldn't place his finger on it, but something was off.

"You are still going to let us celebrate with you and the members, aren't you?" he questioned.

Yoona had forgotten that her birthday was coming up so quickly. Her father and sister had sent her a care package that she already received, and she had planned on having dinner with her member sisters, like she did the year before. Their schedules were always so busy that she had not expected her Oppas to be able to join them.

"But your schedules…"

"Hang the schedules!" Siwon bellowed. And they all laughed at how the volume of his voice echoed in the lobby.

"We got permission from your manager to take you dinner and then straight back to the dorm tonight," DongHae smiled mischievously, "although we didn't tell him what time!"

Teukkie grabbed Yoona's right hand and began to pull her quickly toward another elevator, one that led down to an underground parking lot. Siwon swiftly followed behind them and DongHae was still standing watching the back of the young girl he had known so well, yet could not understand what was different about her tonight.

As he shook his head, Teukkie turned to and winked, "Last one in pays for dinner tonight." After he stuck out his tongue, he turned to pull Yoona into the elevator mashing down on the 'close' button. Siwon had barely made it in before the doors closed, and they could hear DongHae yelling, "WAIT JUST A MINUTE!"

"Maybe they don't know," Yoona tried to calm herself, "They must not know, because they aren't beating me!" She swallowed hard as she watched the lights on the elevator descend to the "P" button. "Maybe they are taking me someplace private to beat me," she considered.

The doors opened and before Teukkie could lead her out, Siwon grabbed onto Yoona's left hand and said, "You think DongHae is going to wait for the next elevator?" And he began sprinting toward their van.

Yoona let out a scream as the two men ran at full speed, dragging her along with them. The door to the stairs behind them flew open as DongHae bounded after them. "I SAID WAIT FOR ME!"

The lot of them laughed and screamed as they ran creating quite a commotion.

Nichkhun had just opened his own van door as he heard the ruckus in front of him. He stopped and watched as the two men ran, each of them holding on to Yoona's hands, with DongHae not far behind them.

"Omo," Khun said aloud, "What do we have here?"

"Aren't you getting in?" his manager, Min Jae asked.

Khun zeroed his focus in on Yoona who was laughing and screaming, her face red with excitement.

"You never cease to amaze me, Yooona." Khun whispered to himself and then smiled at Min Jae as he boarded the van.

"Sorry for being late," Min Jae said as he put the van into drive and began to exit the parking lot.

Khunnie turned to watch the first two Super Juniors push Yoona into their van, and attempt to close the door behind them as DongHae reached it in time to wrestle it open.

"It's ok Hyung," Khun chuckled, "Some things are well worth the wait."


	10. Chapter 10

As the long beads of perspiration rolled down Taec's face and neck, he tried to stretch to straighten his stiff and sore muscles. The cotton material clung to his back and he wriggled his toes as he stretched out his legs to their full length, and while leaning forward and extending his arms as far as their limit would allow. He felt the salted rocks underneath his bum and legs as he stretched, the heat from the sauna was not only bearable, but welcomed. He turned to face his fellow members, Chansung and Khun, observing how red the latter was from the heat.

"Khun, dude, you're as red as a lobster. Maybe you should head out now?"

"Are you saying I can't handle this?" Khun challenged.

"No, I'm saying that your face matches the Korean soccer team's uniform."

Chansung laughed and added, "What do you expect from our American born Thai prince? He can bend his body into a pretzel with his yoga skills, but can't handle a little bit of Korean sauna heat!"

Taec could tell that his body was now on the mend from his strep throat, not only had the antibiotics kicked in, but his strength was now slowly coming back to him as well.

"Come on Chansunggie, let's go take a bath, if we don't, Khun will never admit defeat and we will have to peel him off the floor."

As the three headed out of the sauna, Chansung exited first and before Taec could follow, Khun pulled him aside.

"She didn't call you?"

Taec wanted to ignore the question because it stung. Even though Khun was asking very gently, the truth still bothered him.

"Why would she?" was all he could answer, and quickly headed out of the sauna.

"Strange," Khun responded following him, "I thought for sure she would."

Taec removed the hand towel from around his neck and covered his head with it, as they continued down the hallway into the men's bath. He didn't know if he was covering his head to hold in the heat for his health, or if he was covering it so that Khun could not see his face. He wanted to change the subject because truthfully he felt too uncomfortable with this one.

"Look at the maknae," he pointed out, "Strutting around as if he was the Prince of Persia. Ever since we won the our first Mutizen award a few weeks ago, he's been on top of the world."

"Haven't we all?" Khun chuckled as he watched Chansung ahead of them, walking with his shoulders back, head held high, and indeed, strutting. But Khun knew what Taec was up to, and decided to let it rest for now.

As they removed their shirts Taec glanced over at Chansung.

"Dude, have you been working out longer in the gym?"

Channie straightened to his full height and puffed out his chest while inhaling deeply. A smirk crossed his lips, and his eyes twinkled with satisfaction that his hyung had taken notice.

"Won't be long until I catch up to you, Hyung."

As Taec bent down and removed his shorts, stripped bare, he picked up his sweaty clothes, then as he stood erect he balled them up, he took aim with a basketball pose and tossed them into a nearby laundry bin. The two fellow members followed suit, with Channie's balled clothing slightly missing their target.

Taec shook his head and sized up his dongseng's frame, head to toe, buck naked. He confidently picked up a towel from the bench next to him and threw it to Chansung.

"Cover that mini shrimp up, little brother. " And he turned to head to nearby bath stool. Without turning back he continued, "You have a long ways to go to catch up to me."

Across town Yoona slowly entered her bedroom, attempting to be as quiet as possible. She didn't want to awake her roommate, Yuri, so she crept in and placed her purse down next to her bed. She didn't even have the strength to undress, but she knew she had to.

She reached underneath her pillow and removed an oversized Tshirt that was one of her favorites to sleep in. She began to recall a few nights back, the dinner she had with her three Super Junior brothers. After changing into the Tshirt, she removed her form fitting skinny jeans, and left them bundled down on the floor. Remembering that night should not have bothered her as much as it did, but she couldn't help but sigh as she placed her hands into her face.

"Why do I always get myself into these types of messes?" she pondered.

The bedcovers rustled and a second later a soft glow shone from Yuri's nightstand.

"You're home?" Yuri asked sleepily. She had turned on the nightlight and observed her sister.

Yuri noticed for several weeks now that Yoona had been acting a bit strange. Some days she was smiling and staring down at her food, and other days she seemed forlorn and deep in thought. The former was almost as much as concern as the latter because Yoona always attacked her food with great vigor. But tonight it was the latter that Yoona was experiencing and although her roomie didn't know the cause, she suspected Yoona was ready to talk about it.

Yuri stood up and walked over to her sister's bed and tapped her shoulder, "Come on Yoona, let's go to bed."

She reached down and lifted up the covers for Yoona who obediently slipped in between them and softly smiled back to Yuri.

"Now how am I supposed to let you sleep by yourself, with that look you just gave me?" Yuri asked.

Without hesitating she slipped in next to her best friend and giggled as she pulled the sheet over both of their heads.

The soft night light illuminated the sheets just enough so they could see each other. Yuri reached for Yoona's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Now tell Sissy all about it."

Yoona didn't know where to start. She looked into Yuri's dark brown eyes filled with anticipation and understanding and knew she could trust her without a doubt.

"Well," Yoona began, "It's about a boy."

Yuri's face alighted with excitement and her smile increased, "Oh the best stories always are! Tell me!"

The words flooded out of Yoona, as she spoke quickly, she explained the last several week's events that followed after meeting Taecyeon for lunch with Tiffany. Yuri nodded and giggled at Yoona as she described the nut club meeting and the voicemails. Although they both had millions of admirers around the world, neither one of them had officially dated anyone. It was forbidden, and these two were serious about not breaking any contract rules. Yet the more forbidden it was, the more they longed for it. Both of them had spent many a night awake describing what their ideal type was, and how their imaginary dates would be. But this wasn't imaginary. This was real boy, and he was truly in pursuit of Yoona!

As Yoona talked about the phone call with the Ahjumma, and then began to describe the night with her brothers Yuri interrupted.

"Oh my God, Yoona! Do they know?"

Back at the sauna, the three young men rinsed the soap from their bodies, and as the cool water ran down Taec's back he raised the shower hose over his head and closed his eyes, feeling refreshed. They had taken turns scrubbing each other's backs, exfoliating with so much strength, that he felt there would be red welts on his back from how hard Channie had scrubbed.

"No doubt in retaliation for the reference about his manhood." Taec thought amusingly.

They climbed into the oversized bath and slowly descended, submerging themselves into the hot water.

Chansung clapped his hands together and began squeezing them on the top of the water, trying to shoot the water upwards.

Khun knew he could safely make a new attempt while his dongseng was quietly amusing himself.

"I told her you were sick." He admitted.

When he did not get a response from Taecyeon he continued.

"She seemed truly concerned too, so I really thought she would call. But if she didn't it might not be her fault."

Taec's eyes remained closed and he leaned his head back against the bath's edge. He wasn't ignoring Khun, he was listening.

Khun knew he had his brother's attention, so he added, "As soon as we ended our meeting, DongHae, Siwon and LeeTeuk were there waiting for her."

Taec's eyes flew open and he turned to face NichKhun. "What happened?" he asked earnestly.

Khun described the scene he had witnessed down in the underground parking lot, and Taec's face grew serious. As he listened, his face revealed exactly what Khun had suspected, Taec truly seemed to care about Yoona. This wasn't one of his whims that he had so many of in the past.

"So they basically kidnapped her?" he said in a low deep tone.

"It's not kidnapping if you go willing." Chansung mused. The youngest had been eavesdropping close by as he played with the water. "It's not like she was forced, was she?"

Taec sent a murderous look at the maknae, instantly quieting him.

"Khun, when is your next meeting with her?"

The Thai prince studied the face of his brother, and although Taec was younger than Khun, he felt like Taec was the eldest of the group, even over Jay. Taec had always seemed more experienced, and more responsible. He had no trouble with women, as a matter of fact, many older women approached him at the clubs they frequented, simply because Taecyeon looked at least six years older than his age. They always mistook him to be the eldest, and he was definitely the biggest.

"Listen, Taec," Khun started, "I can totally understand this, after all, she's Yoona. I mean, it's not like she's perfect… " he paused briefly,"…and yet the longer you are around her, the more beautiful she becomes. It's like when you first see her, you think, 'She's a pretty little thing.' But then…"

Taec interrupted his friend and completed his sentence for him, "But then you hear her laugh, and watch her face light up a room, and you look into those two huge sparkling dark eyes, and you're mesmerized." He thought for a moment and then continued, "You know it's not just physical either. I have had physical attractions before, but this is much more powerful. She is so unique. When you talk to her, the way her mind works…"

Khun knew exactly what Taec was talking about. He had spent an entire day with Yoona for their mini drama meeting, and he discovered there was much more to Yoona than just a pretty face and a slim figure.

"It's like when she talks to you, you're the only one in the room," Khun added. "She draws you into her just by the way she speaks to you."

Chansung watched as the two members exchanged knowing glances at each other.

"Oh hell no!" he blurted out. "It is not bad enough that I have to compete with Taec, but now with you too?"

As the evening drew later, Yoona and Yuri's conversation had slowed to a natural pace as they looked into each other's eyes under the covers of Yoona's bed.

"Teukkie was waiting for me in the hallway as I headed back from the Ladies Room. I could tell immediately by the serious look on his face that he wasn't happy. Then I noticed my phone in his hand."

"I wanted to fix it for you," he offered. "But I didn't expect to see this, Yoona." He looked down at her phone and back up at her. His eyes seemed pained, and she realized that he knew. He must have seen the call history of how many times Taec had called, and that she had returned a call.

"When did you get his phone number, Yoona? And how long have you been calling each other?"

Her eyes flew up from her phone and she locked eyes with him. She could see that it wasn't anger but hurt that filled them. It was raw concern… and she felt guilt flood over her.

"We're friends," she started to explain.

"Yoona," he reached down for her hands and placed the phone in them, and then covered her hands with his own, "Some men cannot be friends with women. You won't understand this because you're too innocent yet. But for some men, it's either black or white. There is nothing in between. Some men only will see you as a woman, not a sister, not a friend. You will always be a woman to them, do you know what that means?"

Yuri now had both her own hands around Yoona's, unconsciously following what Teukkie had done, and she asked, "Did he tell you want that meant?"

Yoona shrugged and she repeated, "He said, 'What Ok Taecyeon wants from me is not friendship. It's much more.' But unnie, I'm confused. Because it contradicts the relationships I have with them. They are a perfect example! I can be friends with boys without being in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, right?"

Yuri thought for a moment, and then considered Yoona's relationship with the SuJu members.

"Yoona, maybe Teukkie is right," she explained softly, "Your first mistake is thinking that he's a boy. They are all MEN, Yoona. After all, think about it. Can you really say that you're just friends with all of them? I mean honestly, do you and DongHae Oppa consider yourself brother and sister?"

There it was. She had said it! All these years she wanted to talk to Yoona about DongHae, but she didn't want to offend her, or explore sacred territory unless Yoona allowed it. That relationship seemed almost sacred to Yoona, and Yuri knew it.

"DongHae Oppa…" Yoona said his name almost as a whisper. "DongHae Oppa is different."

Yuri looked at her sister intently and said, "Yoona they are ALL different. Each one of our brothers cares for us differently. Maybe that's Teukkie's point. I know for a fact that Yesunggie has had a crush on you for years now, but will never do anything about it, because of DongHae Oppa. I can say the same thing for Wookie. And, Siwonnie, well Siwonnie loves all women equally!" They each giggled at that last comment but Yoona was beginning to understand her sister.

Yoona could never put into words how she felt about DongHae. He was so much more to her than a brother. But both of them were careful to never put each other in danger of losing their contract with SM Entertainment. They had families to support, and fans to consider. They would never breech the promise they had made.

Yuri stifled a yawn and continued, "Maybe what Teukkie is saying, in his own protective, big brother way, is that Ok Taecyeon likes you. And not as a friend…" she thought back to the story Yoona shared of the nut club meeting and said, "I mean he said so himself, 'you light his fire,' right?"

Yuri finished the explanation by releasing Yoona's hands and reaching down to her tummy and tickling her, "Ohhh Yoona, you light his fire! Shame on you! What have you been doing to set him on fire?"

The room filled with shrieks of laughter as the bedclothes bubbled with movement.

Her birthday was in two more days, and Taecyeon knew exactly what to get her. As a matter of fact, he smiled to himself at the mere thought of placing the necklace around her neck. He had to be in front of her, not from behind, so that she could lean into him as he wrapped his arms around her neck.

Her hands extended, holding up her long hair, her head lowered, near his chest. He could smell the soft scent of her shampoo, her long slender neck exposed as his fingers manipulated the clasp. Without realizing it, one hand wrapped around the back of her neck while the other raised her chin, bringing her face so much closer to his. So close that it was beyond bearing. He lowered his lips on to hers, and softly kissed her full on the mouth. Her eyes shot open in surprise, but his grasp on the back of her neck tightened slightly as he deepened his kiss, feeling the softness of her lips, unable to resist, he coaxed her mouth open and drank in the taste as his tongue explored her mouth.

"HYUNG!"

Taecyeon jumped up out of the steamy water, startled, he attempted to regain his composure while standing to face the maknae.

Chansung was shaking his head, about to comment how much of daydreamer his hyung was and that if he wasn't careful he would be shriveled up to a prune, when he lowered his vision below Taec's abdomen. The maknae's eyes opened wider with surprise, and then quickly hooded with understanding and maybe even a bit of jealousy, as he looked back up to his brother's face he said, "Are you just showing off on purpose or are you that happy to see me? "


	11. Chapter 11

It was a phone call Taecyeon would not easily forget. Every time he thought about it, he felt his blood boil. What gall! Did he think he had the right to say such things just because he was Taec's senior in the industry, or was it because of his close relationship to Yoona that gave him such confidence?

"And another thing," Lee Teuk stated firmly, "She won't accepting any more calls from you, because I will delete this number from her phone. Don't try and call her back either, if you know what's good for you."

"Who died and made you in charge in Yoona's private matters?" Taecyeon growled.

"It seems you don't know your place, dongseng. You also have a terrible memory! Didn't I warn you before, to stay away from our Yooona?"

"LeeTeuk, I have no relation to you whatsoever. You are the one with the faulty memory. It must be from being on edge of becoming senile with age. You're way too old to be doing these gangster type threats. I am not going away. I am not going to stop calling her. And I am not going to listen to you for another minute!"

Just who does he think he is! Taec knew he wasn't on friendly terms with those members, but he always thought it was because of working for competing management companies. He never guessed that members from that group knew so much about him.

Did they have him followed? How did they know about his clubbing, and partying? How did Lee Teuk know about his former crush on Yoobin, and how dare he insinuate that he was not good enough for Yoona!

"It's not like she is the Queen of Korea," he huffed in anger to himself.

Still, to bring up things from his past, really irked him to no end. Then again, he thought, it's not like he kept such things a great secret either. Even during filming of several variety shows with his other members he revealed his clubbing habits with Chansung and Jay. Still! That was for entertainment!

"What am I? A leper? I am not good enough for their Dear Yoona? God, I hate how they think they own her!"

He looked down on his dresser at the blue wrapped box with a small card, "To our Pinenut."

He picked it up and examined it as he considered.

"Should I give it to her for birthday? Maybe it's a bit too much considering the level we're at?"

He had thought about buying a designer purse, or even brand name shoes from Italy, since he knew she was very fashionable, and liked such things. But that would not be very personal. Besides, she probably got those types of gifts from the "SuJu" boys that were always around her.

No matter what how hard he tried, he couldn't get that out of his mind. He thought back to the many times he saw the SNSD girls backstage, and it seemed that she was always walking and talking with either DongHae, LeeTeuk, Ryeowook, or Yesung. She was never alone.

The sound of his ringtone snapped him out of his thoughts, and looked down to the phone display to see Seulong's name.

"What's up Hyung?"

"What do you mean, 'What's up?' You begged me to get together the Nut Club to celebrate Yoona's birthday and you haven't even left yet?"

"I was unexpectedly delayed by a pain in the ass."

"I don't care who's paining your ass right now! All I know is it isn't me! So get over here!"

"Hyung!" Taec snorted at the comment from his long time friend.

"Well? What did you end up buying her? And don't say shoes! I told you, no matter how much they love shoes, you should never buy a woman shoes, because it means you want her to leave."

Taec shook his head at the superstitions of his hyung and replied, "It's not shoes, ok!"

"Well I hope it's not something overly personal either, like jewelry or perfume."

When Taecyeon didn't respond, Seulong continuted, "Yah! Don't tell me you bought one of those! Those are only gifts you give to the woman you love! What are you trying to do, chase her off before you even confess?"

Taecyeon looked down at the Tiffany's wrapped necklace box and reconsidered.

"Do you think it will really scare her off?"

"You always go overboard, you brat! It's always all or nothing for you, isn't it?" Seulong ran his fingers through his hair and tried to soften his tone for his confused friend. "Listen, I know how you want things to be with her. But it's not time yet. You have to build it up, you know? Yooona-shii isn't the type of girl you can just rush things with, after all she's still underage, isn't she?"

Taec opened up the top drawer of his dresser, and placed the box in carefully inside.

"I'm going to be a bit late, I need a fast Plan B, but I am sure it will come to me as I head over there."

"Get that cute ass of yours here quickly," Seulong demanded, "This was all your idea, and I hate always being in the spotlight as the host! You know, they will just end up falling in love with me instead, if you let them be alone with me for too long."

True to his word, Taec raced down the streets of Seoul as quickly as he could, making one brief stop at an electronics store on the way.

By the time he got there, he had beads of perspiration running down either side of his face, and he was out of breath.

They had picked a Karaoke Bar and reserved a large VIP room. This was one of those few places that idols like them could actually expect to have privacy and still be able to enjoy themselves in a small group.

Taecyeon was the last to arrive, and as a result had to down a drink in true "one shot" fashion as his punishment.

Each member of the Nut Club took turns filling his shot glass, when Yoona commented, "Taecyeon Oppa, aren't you going to get sick drinking so quickly?"

"What am I, a girl?" laughed Taec.

After the fourth glass he felt the warmth burn slowly down to his stomach and he realized that although he was usually pretty strong with drinking skills, he hadn't had a meal for hours, and drinking on an empty stomach made his head light.

He watched Sunny and Seulong get up and perform a cute duet and while they sang he leaned over to Yoona and presented her with a bag that contained her gift.

"It's not much," he said softly, "It was my second choice."

"What is it?" Yoona's eyes lit up with excitement. She wasn't really expecting presents since the gathering itself was a gift enough for her.

"A digital photo frame." Taec replied. "You can store thousands of photos on it, and there's even an SD card to record video and audio. So if you want it to play music, or clips, you can store that on it too."

"Really!" Yoona's excitement bubbled over. "That's so awesome! I don't have one of those and have always wanted one! Thank you!"

Taec grinned at her excitement over such a small gift. She truly was magnificent. Her smile lit up the room, and he wanted to pull her close to him and embrace her.

"Its smiles that like that will get you in trouble little girl." Taec's eyes grew darker as he leaned in closer.

"You have no idea, do you?" he asked, "What you do to men when you smile like that. You have no idea…" he continued as he reached for hair that was hanging softly around her beautiful face, and lightly pushed it behind her ear, "What you do to me, do you?"

Yoona blushed at the frankness of his words, and cleared her throat as she glanced over at Sunny and Seulong, who seems to be wrapped up in their own world, singing to each other.

"Taecyeon-shii," Yoona started, "I think we need to talk."

"Taecyeon-shii? I went from Oppa to Taecyeon-shii? Since when?"

Yoona was obviously nervous and a bit flustered as she tried to explain to him.

"Taecyeon-shii Oppa," she began, "I'm not sure how to say this, but…"

She looked down at her own hands and began frantically twirling her thumbs together out of nervousness.

"You see, I have such a busy schedule these days. I am filming the Cinderella Man drama, and the members and I are working on our come back stage in a few short weeks with our new song, and then there's the mini drama coming up with Nichkhun Oppa as well."

"Nichkhun Oppa is it?" Taec started to feel his temper rise along with his voice.

"No, it's not that…" Yoona attempted to reword what she wanted to talk to him about. Why was he getting upset?

"Yoona," Taecyeon moved closer to her and placed his hands over hers to stop the twirling thumbs. "Why is it that you have so many oppas around you, but when it comes to me, I'm 'Taecyeon-shii? Or even worse, "Taecyeon-shii Oppa?"

"I'm just trying to explain, that I really enjoy your friendship…" she faltered at the last word.

"My friendship?" He raised his voice enough to get Seulong's and Sunny's attention now.

"So are you trying to put me in my place now? Are you giving me the brush off?"

Yoona's eyes had gotten wider with fear now, because this was not going anything like it was supposed to. She had just wanted to clearly let Taecyeon know that she thought of him as a good friend. She cherished their moments together, but she knew, just as Teukkie had said in no uncertain terms, that she could not afford either a relationship or a scandal now.

"I'm trying to say that you're a good friend," Yoona re-attempted. "A great friend!" She nervously smiled at him, trying to get his approval or acknowledgement.

Seulong and Sunny had stopped their singing as the music continued on without them.

Seulong knew that if he didn't to something quick, this would become a disastrous night instead of a celebratory one.

"What's with the serious discussion going on over there," he chirped, "We are having a party!"

Taecyeon waved away his hyung with his hand, without taking his eyes off of his target that sat in front of him, nervously fidgeting, and trying to gently pull her own hands out from under one of his. He tightened his grip with his large hand and leaned in to her so closely that he was mere inches from her face.

"So I'm not deserving enough to be more than your friend? Somehow I knew …" he closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath and repeated in a very deep, and dark tone, "I knew when you never returned my calls that you didn't feel anything for me. But I never thought that you would cast me off as just another 'friend.'"

Yoona's eyes frantically looked from one of his eyes to the other as she tried to understand why he had gotten so angry.

Taecyeon's head started to spin, and he realized the alcohol was probably what had him fired up so quickly, but couldn't help himself from continuing down this path he had started on.

"You don't realize it yet Yoona," he told her as his left hand reached to pat her on the head, "But this mind of yours, will soon be filled with me."

He then moved the same hand toward her mouth and allowed a few fingers to brush against her slightly parted lips, "And these beautiful, luscious lips, will be mine."

Seulong and Sunny both started quickly toward him when he pushed her down completely on the soft bench seat and then firmly grasped her left breast, and gave it a squeeze, "And the heart that's under this breast , Yoona," he said as he blocked her body with his own, now laying on top of her, he continued to softly massage her small breast in his hand and felt his head spin completely out of control, he nuzzled his mouth into her ear and whispered, "This heart will belong to only me."

Yoona was so stunned that for a minute she could not move. She was frozen from shock.

Seulong attempted to pull his friend off of her, "Are you crazy?" Sunny yelled at him as she slammed her small fist into Taecyeon's broad back. "Let her go!"

"Never," Taecyeon whispered into Yoona's ear before raising himself to face the beet red face and startled eyes, which quickly shone with fire as she attempted to push him off of her.

"Stop it!" she ground out of her clenched teeth as she pushed against his shoulders.

When she saw she was getting no where by pushing him, she attempted to raise her right knee sharply against his groin, and just missed as she clipped his thigh.

He wanted to laugh at the expression she had on her face, because it was a true dichotomy … so angry, with her eyes shining with fire, raging against him, and yet so beautiful at the same time. How could she look even prettier this way?

"My God, Yoona," he said so softly that she almost didn't hear him. "You are so beautiful." And with that he took his free hand that had been gripping hers until she broke the grasp and began pushing him, and with that free hand he dug it firmly into her hair and grasped it firmly to hold her in place as he leaned forward to close any space that was between them.

His mouth forcefully claimed hers and he chuckled to himself at the way she clenched her teeth together to prohibit his tongue entry. His lips firmly locked onto hers, with his mouth opening and closing and he sucked on her lips, ravaging them.

He only broke the kiss after Sunny had grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked as hard as she could, and Seulong forcefully pulled him off of his prey.

Yoona wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and tears filled her eyes as she looked at him.

"They were right about you," she said accusingly at him.

He knew instinctively just who 'they' were. He took a quick breath and wanted to grab ahold of her again.

Sunny quickly picked up all the gift bags up and attempted to help Yoona to her feet. As she walked Yoona out of the door, asking if she was ok, she raised her small fist at Taecyeon and shot him a threatening look, as she mouthed to him, "Crazy jerk."

Seulong pushed Taecyeon down on to the bench forcing him to sit. He shook his head as he looked down at his drunk friend. Taecyeon was staring at his left hand that had cupped Yoona's breast and he smirked to himself.

Seulong smacked him upside his head, bringing him out of his revelry.

"If you wanted to drive her away, why didn't you just give her shoes?"


	12. Chapter 12

The intense pain that raged in his head was so blinding that he could not open his eyes. He instinctively reached up for his head with both hands to feel if there was any blood or open crack on it. "My God," he whispered to himself, "What the hell happened?"

"You're on the right path," came a brusque remark from across the room, "at this point, only God can help you!"

Taecyeon squinted his eyes closed and ever so carefully dared to open the left one.

"Hyung," he croaked, "I can't move my head. It hurts so bad!"

"No surprise there," Seulong snorted.

Taecyeon reached behind his head and brushed lightly over several large bumps that were painfully tender to the touch. "What the hell happened?" he inquired.

"You really don't remember? YOU happened! That's what happened!"

"Too loud!" Taecyeon winced at the pain ringing in his head, feeling as though for sure it would burst. He said softly, almost whispering, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that it should have been me bashing you in the head last night, but you took care of it yourself. You did quite a number too!"

Taecyeon tried to make sense of what Seulong was talking about, and he slowly opened both eyes enough to find himself in the 2AM dorm room instead of his own. He recognized it immediately.

"I don't remember anything."

"Anything? Nothing?"

"Last I remember… " Taecyeon paused in order to try to recall what happened the previous night only to groan miserably. "Oh God please… please tell me that was a nightmare. Please tell me it didn't really happen!"

"BINGO!" Seulong said as loud as he possibly could, knowing that the younger man deserved just as much pain if not more than he was experiencing.

Immediately tears formed in Taecyeon's eyes, and he closed them again, trying to force the vision away, only to find it replaying behind his closed eyelids. "Oh God… Oh God…. Oh God!"

Seulong shook his head and began to feel a small amount of pity creep into his heart but he quickly shut it out, and coldly responded, "I should have left you at the bar. Or had them call the police, which is what they were going to do. I swear, if it weren't for fear of JYP himself, I would have!"

"What bar?"

"The third one of the evening for you. You would not stay put for long before you began ranting and lamenting aloud, getting us kicked out, and moving on to the next."

Seulong continued to describe the scene to him, of his downing one drink after another and screaming out loud to the entire bar, "I'm sorry Yoona! I am so sorry!"

"Oh God!" Taec groaned, "Then it really did happen?" He was hoping that somehow this was all a bad dream, and that he would not have to face himself in the mirror, knowing what he had done.

"More importantly," Seulong said, as he finished buttoning his shirt, and considered his reflection, "How are you ever going to make up for this supremely asinine act? What on earth could you possibly do to gain her forgiveness?"

He watched Taecyeon as he attempted to sit up, still holding on to his head, as if to make sure it didn't fall off. He eyes were clenched shut.

"I am such a prick!" he admitted. "Truly, 100% Grade A Prick!"

"You don't hear me arguing with you." Seulong agreed.

"I don't even know why I did it. All I remember is there she was in front of me, smiling that incredibly beautiful smile of hers, with those huge, 'come hither' eyes, and that wonderful, sexy mouth of hers… OH GOD!"

"Well, you did have a total of five shots in you, but still!"

"Yeah I know. It was as if I could see myself from the outside, you know? There was this small voice yelling at me to stop, what the hell was I doing…but dude, really, I couldn't stop! I should have stopped but there she was… and I have wanted her for so damn long now."

"No excuse," Seulong kicked the bed with his foot and watched as Taec held on to his head tighter and let out another groan.

"I know that, dammit!" He opened his eyes again, with the tears still forming, he looked directly at Seulong, "I know! I know! I know!" After a few seconds he continued, "But do you have any idea how it feels to be chasing after someone for months and months, never to even get one single return phone call? I mean she's always with THEM! I bet she calls THEM back! I bet she even initiates the calls to THEM! Hell, she has even KISSED one of THEM! Probably kissed more than one!"

"Bad form, dude."

"I KNOW, OK! I'm a PRICK!"

"You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself, and literally banging yourself over the head like you did last night in the men's toilet stall, and start on the path of repentance my dear brother! You need to seriously do some begging and pleading. With the damage you caused, you'll need to be Mother-Freaking-Theresa now."

Taec managed to slowly get up from the bed and with one hand still holding the top of his head, he shuffled slowly towards the door to head to the bathroom for a hot shower. This was the worse hang over of his life.

When he got to the bathroom, he glanced at the reflection facing him, and almost did not recognize himself. "What the …" he bent closer to make sure it was him looking back. He saw two enlarged, overly swollen eyes looking back at him.

"That would be from all the crying you did last night," Seulong chimed in, leaning against the doorway. "I tried multiple times to get you back here in one piece, but you were determined to mess yourself up, one way or the other. Bashing your head against the back stall wasn't enough, you had to cry your eyes out too."

"It doesn't matter," he sighed, "She will never look at me again anyway."

"Oh that's it, just give up! Before you even try, just throw in the towel."

Taecyeon leaned into the shower to turn on the hot water and began to undress.

"Just…" he consider, "Just leave me the hell alone, ok bro?"

"Oh believe me, nothing I could possibly do will get you out of this. Sunny already called me and told me the Nut Club is done. Finito! She yelled at me! She said for us to ignore the "Thanks To" comments on the album cover coming out next week. If it had not already gone to the printers, they would have pulled it."

"Damn!" Taec began to let fly several other much stronger curses.

"We have Music Bank coming up in two weeks, I hope you have a plan then. Because that's the soonest you'll get to see her."

Taec tried to think but his mind was not working very well. He rubbed his hand over the large bumps on the back of his head again, and groaned. "I'll think of something."

"Oh I almost forgot," Seulong approached Taec, and Taec lowered his hands and looked back in the reflection of the mirror at his hyung. Seulong reached up and smacked Taecyeon hard on the back of the head, right on top of the wounded, swollen bumps.

"MOTHER FUC…." Taecyeon began his cursing again.

"That's from Yoona. She was too much of a lady last night to hit you, so …" he shrugged and turned to walk out, heading down the hall chuckling at the stream of curse words coming from the steamy bathroom.

In Yoona's mind there was no need to "Get Even." Sunny had told her on the way home last night, "Yoona, don't get mad, get even!" Bless Sunny's heart, but Yoona wasn't the type to go for revenge. She was angry, yes, but more than angry, she was confused and disappointed. Ok Taecyeon had seemed so nice, and funny too! She always laughed when she was with him. He made her happy.

Last night was such an off the wall, almost surreal experience that she kept replaying it in her mind on the way home. Had she done something that had given him the impression that she wanted that? Had she invited him? She couldn't fathom why he would go whacko on her like that, such a pervert!

Then she considered Teukkie's words of wisdom to her, "Some men can't be friends with women. It's either all or nothing."

Teukkie was right, he obviously saw her as a woman, and not a friend. Friend's don't hurt each other that way.

Yoona was old fashioned. She had heard of this talk of 'friends with benefits' but that could never apply to her. For her, having a physical relationship could only be shared with someone she loved. She could never think of having sex with someone she was just attracted to. It was wrong in her eyes.

She was glad that Teukkie had deleted his number from her phone. Now she would delete the voicemails she had saved. They had made her smile and encouraged her at times when she was on her last thread of energy, but now… now even thinking of Taecyeon used up too much energy.

"I won't let you control my thoughts," she told herself, as she began deleting the voicemails.

"YOONAAAA!" squealed a voice from her bedroom. She knew it was Yuri, but what could have her so excited?

"Yoonaaa! Who gave this to you?"

Yoona got up from the living room sofa where she had been sitting, since it was Sunday it was one of the few days she didn't have to work. She walked in the room to see Yuri playing with a black frame. She glanced down at the bag at Yuri's feet and saw the opened box lying on the ground. She immediately recognized both the bag and the box, and her eyes widened. She had forgot to give him back the gift in their hurry to leave last night.

"Yoona it's adorable! Look!" Yuri turned it to face Yoona, and she watched as several images of the SNSD girls flip across the screen. "And that's not all! Check this out!" Yuri pressed a button and the chorus from "Gee" began to resonate in the room. "It's so awesome!"

Yoona walked over to Yuri and snatched it away from her and tossed it down on the ground next to the box and bag, without speaking.

"Why?" a puzzled Yuri inquired. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I'm just returning it."

"Why?"

"Never mind why. I just am."

Before Yuri could ask more questions they were interrupted by Tiffany's entrance into their room.

"Yah! " she said into the phone, "You have her number, so why are you calling me, asking me to pass the phone?"

"Tiff, please, just don't say who it is, because I know she won't take my call. Trust me on this one."

Tiffany shrugged and extended her phone out toward Yoona.

"Who is it?" Yoona asked.

"Just take the call," Tiffany replied nonchalantly.

Yoona reached for the phone and listened to see if she could hear anything. "Hello?"

"Yoona! Please don't hang up, listen to me for a second. I'm so…"

Click.

Yoona handed the phone back to Tiffany and walked out of the room without saying anything more.

Yuri and Tiffany stood there looking at each other. Yuri whispered, "Who was it?"

"Ok Taecyeon," Tiffany whispered back.

"What happened?" Yuri continued in hushed tones.

Tiffany shrugged and looked back down at her phone. She clicked on re-dial and left the room as well. Yuri stood there wondering if she should follow Yoona or Tiffany!

Taecyeon knew she would hang up on him. He was expecting it. He couldn't blame her either.

He parked his car and walked over to the guard gate. He called Tiffany's cell phone and she buzzed him in, allowing him to enter the complex parking lot. As he walked toward their building, he reviewed his plan.

"I'll get Tiffany to bring her down to the lobby, and I'll drop on my knees and beg her forgiveness…"

He looked down at the plushy stuffed toy he had brought along with a bouquet of assorted wild flowers. He knew roses would be way too much for Yoona to accept. He was probably even pushing it by bringing any gifts at all.

He paced the sidewalk going over the plan again and again. Expect a slap. Expect to be cursed. Expect a kick in the shin… he reviewed all the possible options.

What he did not expect was to see DongHae walk toward the glass entry doors, and to see Yoona come walking out. DongHae extended open his arms and grinned at her. "Come here Little Baby Girl," he grinned sideways. Yoona almost flew into his arms as they held each other, she placed her head on his shoulder and inhaled deeply.

DongHae was taken aback by the strong embrace, and immediately felt like something was wrong. He rubbed her back gently and leaned his cheek on to her head.

"You want to tell Oppa about it now, or later?"

Yoona shook her head and continued the embrace, tightening her hold on him.

It was DongHae's turn to inhale deeply and then let out a long sigh. This felt so right. This is exactly where she belonged. Where she would always belong.

Taecyeon wanted to turn away. It hurt so bloody bad to watch them together like this. If he had any sense of self respect, he would walk away. But no, he knew he could not. He planted himself firmly and without realizing it, he smashed the flowers to his own chest and folded his arms as he watched.

"You deserve this, you prick head. Watch and let it burn in your heart…whatever you do, do not forget this moment."


	13. Chapter 13

"Stop!" yelled the PD, ""This just isn't working."

He paced the wooden floor of the practice room and looked back at the reflections of the two young people. They were flawless in their appearance, quite beautiful to look at, but for some reason this theme was not working. He needed to add something extraordinary… like rain!

"Khun, let's try something different," he began to strategize, "Let's have you appear first, without an umbrella. It starts to rain and you cover your head with your jacket. You begin walking, but you're looking down at the ground, so you don't see the girl approaching you with an umbrella."

He walks toward NichKhun and pulls him to a spot on the floor for proper placement.

"Here," he stamps on the floor to emphasize the 'mark' where Khun needs to stand.

The director then waves toward Yoona and explains to her, "Yoona, you have the umbrella facing slightly downward, so you don't see notice the young man approaching you. You both collide and fall to the ground!"

The PD rubbed his hands together, excited at the new prospect, "Then Khun, you rush to her side to see if she's ok, the umbrella has fallen, and now you recognize her! She's your long lost first love! While you're still kneeling down to her you offer her your assistance to stand up, and you pick up the umbrella."

NichKhun nodded at the director and walked over to Yoona.

"Yoona, you finally recognize Khun! He offers you the umbrella, and when you take it from him, he sweeps you up in his arms! You hold the umbrella over the two of you as you walk from the stage. Let's take it from the top!"

The two young idols began to role play what they had just been directed to do. When NichKhun swept Yoona up into his arms, Yoona felt the heat rise to her cheeks. She could now smell the soft musky cologne that he wore. She casted her eyes up to meet his gaze. He was smiling from ear to ear!

The director instructed, "HOLD IT!"

"Yoona, let's try laying your head on his shoulder as he carries you away."

Khun put Yoona carefully down on the floor, and re-enacted the scene.

He his smile now lit up his eyes just as he swept Yoona back up into his arms a second time. Yoona noticed the playful, almost mischievous twinkle in his eyes, and this time he adlibbed by singing so softly that only she could hear him, "Under my umbrella… ella…ella… ella."

Yoona placed her head on his broad shoulder. NichKhun glanced down at her and his smile broadened. "Comfy are you?" he whispered.

"Almost," she mouthed silently, and squirmed around in his arms, causing him to bounce her upwards in order to re-adjust his bridal hold on her. "You need to eat more, Yoona, you're as light as a feather!"

The director watch both of their glowing faces and realized that he had the perfect couple!

"Put her down for now, Khun. This looks a little too convincing. I think we need some humor in this act."

Khun shrugged at Yoona, gently placing her on her feet and as he stood to his full height he whispered, "I think our brilliance is blowing him away. Or maybe…have you actually fallen in love with me?"

Yoona playfully clipped his shoulder in response. "Pabo," she whispered back.

She liked NichKhun. He was so expressive with his eyes and facial expressions! Each time he spoke to her, she knew he was being honest. He was so very gentle with her. He was so unlike a certain someone else, who was so forceful, and aggressive with her!

"Get me the scriptwriter!" the directed boomed, "And you two, take ten." He waved them off.

Khunnie walked over to the cooler on the floor, lifted the lid, and grabbed two chilled water bottles. As he handed one to her he asked, "Want to take a walk?"

Yoona nodded and they left the practice room. Khun pointed to the elevator and said, "I've always wanted to check out the roof from here, shall we?"

As they rode the elevator up together, Yoona remembered the note she read the day before. She had forgotten all about it until she was looking for a pair of earrings, and noticed her tray of accessories. The note must have been placed there by the ahjumma that comes in and cleans once a week. She always goes through their pockets before laundering their clothes.

The paper had been folded into an origami shape, and was written on one of his planner calendar pages.

"_Today I met with a girl that filled the room with sunshine when she smiled. Her laugh is like cool refreshing spring water. For a few brief hours, her presence soothed me. It was as if I was a weary traveler, and she gave me shelter and warmth. She fed me with her unique deep thoughts, and I drank of her beauty. May 5__th__, 2009 is now missing from my Planner, but it will never be missing from my heart. As my mentor Paul Coelho says, 'Your heart will always be your north star in life – as long as you listen to it and give it a chance to talk to you.' Today you were my north star._

_Follow your heart, Yoona, and you won't go wrong."_

She glanced up at Khunnie and caught him watching her.

"I liked your note," she shyly admitted. "It meant a lot. Especially...now."

He felt warmth cover him with her acknowledgement.

"Do you mind me asking why now?"

The elevators doors opened, and off to the side was a short flight of stairs. Khun reached over to offer to carry Yoona's water bottle for her as she ascended up the stairs ahead of him. He watched her slender form with her long legs, emphasized by the tan pair of shorts she wore and couldn't help but grin as he observed her rear end swing from side to side with each step she took.

When they reached the rooftop, they walked over to the fencing and Yoona reached her hands upward, "Mmmmm," she enjoyed the stretch, "Great suggestion. I love Seoul's sky at this time of year. Before it gets too hot. It's just right."

Khun grinned to himself. She avoided his question completely. His curiosity was piqued. He cocked his head to one side and his eyes sparkled, "So is it work related, love related, or friend related…" he probed gently.

Without facing him she sighed, "Let's just say that I don't know what to do about someone that I thought was a friend…"

Khun considered the very vague comment and thought for moment. _Could she be talking about me? Is she thinking of me as more than a friend now?_

"Yoona, remember we talked about how much both like to read? Well I read once that there was a girl who was afraid to choose a path in her life, because she didn't want to miss out on other possibilities. She wouldn't commit herself to a single path."

He paused and watched Yoona as she turned to face him and looked directly into his eyes as he continued.

"Like after her first romantic disappointment, she had decided to never again open herself up completely to anyone. She feared pain, loss, and disappointment, and even worse, separation."

Khun turned to face Yoona as well, so that now they stood a few feet apart, intently focused on each other.

"All of those things are inevitable on your path to love, and the only way to avoid them is by deciding not to take any path at all. So if you don't want to get hurt and suffer, you'll have to renounce love completely."

He felt a connection between them. She was soaking in every word he said. She absorbed it into her entire system, like a dried sponge intakes liquid.

Khun reached up and brushed the back of his fingers across her left cheek. "You can spend time debating what path to take, or want to choose them all, but end up following none instead. Do you have the courage it takes to make mistakes? Do you have the courage to be in pain in order to find love?"

Yoona knew she could trust Khun with every fiber of her being. Just from these few brief, private encounters they had, she felt a security bond with him. No man had spoken to her so openly about love and the turmoil one goes through while in love.

"How will I know who my soulmate is?" she asked sincerely.

Khun inhaled deeply and took a long drink of his water. A few drops dripped from the side of his mouth and he carelessly wiped it away.

"Don't laugh," he said softly. He watched for her reaction. He knew she wasn't taking this lightly. She merely nodded a promise and anticipated his answer.

"I think God gives us a choice. I think he will send you several candidates, and it's up to you to choose. He just wants you to be happy. So here's how I see it…"

He lowered his water bottle on the ground and then placed both hands on either of Yoona's shoulders. He moved closer to her, and lowered his face to be directly in front of hers.

"I will know my soul mate by the _love light_ in her eyes. Her eyes will show me her heart and soul."

It was Yoona's turn to cock her head to one side, questioning and considering his remark.

"I can't explain emotions, Yoona. I can only tell you to let yourself feel things intensely. Like right now, this very moment, what do you feel?"

Yoona considered for a brief second before answering. There was positive energy flowing between them, she could actually feel it.

"Better." Yoona replied honestly.

"Better?" Khun chuckled.

She nodded and since his face was so close to hers she noticed that he had missed a drop of water on the side of his mouth. She reached up and brushed it away. Khun's eyes deepened as she did so.

"So in other words, what you're saying is…" she explained, "No path can be completely wrong. That applies to people too, I guess. They can't be completely wrong. You're telling me not to give up, right?"

Khun thought about telling her the real thoughts that were racing through his mind. He settled for giving her shoulders a slight squeeze. Too soon.

"Exactly. You can't be completely wrong about anything. After all…" he reached down and picked up his water and looked down at his watch. Their time was up. "… even a broken watch is right twice a day." And with that, he gave her one is his devastatingly charming winks.

Taecyeon noticed immediately that his 'Deer' contact had been deleted from his iPhone. He had intended on calling her, since he didn't approach her when she was with DongHae. He would plead for forgiveness. He wasn't ashamed. But her number was now gone. After questioning the members, almost accusing them that someone had messed with his phone, the Ahjumma finally admitted that it was she who had deleted it. She also mentioned the missed call.

"That's just GREAT!" Taec wanted to punch something. "Now I'm even more of an idiot for thinking she never called!"

The plan he had in mind was flawed, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

After questioning Khunnie when he returned from their practice on the mini-drama, he discovered that she didn't even mention him. Nothing. Zippo. He had gone back to being Mr. Cellophane again. And Khun came back humming, and almost floating on clouds! How he envied him.

"This has to work!" he strategized.

He enlisted the help of Seulong and Tiffany. Sunny would not even speak to him. Tiffany had asked him what happened, so it was clear that neither Yoona or Sunny had told the other members. He would respect Yoona's decision for privacy and so he didn't tell Tiffany either. All she knew is that they had obviously faught.

They were now backstage at Music Bank, and it was nearing time for SNSD to take the stage for their Come Back performance. Yoona couldn't find her hat! How could it have disappeared? They all had marine suits on, and each of them were supposed to have their own hats. The stylists had them each laid out and hers was there a while ago!

"What to do? What to do?" Yoona was panicked.

"It has to be here, Yoona," Tiffany replied, "Let's check again!" She waved at the others to go on without them. They had all rushed out of their waiting room, and Yuri warned, "If you really don't find it in time, we will all take ours off, so hurry Yoona!"

Seconds after they had scurried off, Taecyeon stood in the doorway, on queue.

Yoona hadn't noticed because she was randomly throwing bits of clothing here and there, when unbeknownst to her, Tiffany had the hat folded in her back pocket.

Taecyeon dropped down to his knees and held his hands up high in the air forming fits, and lowering his head. "I'm sorry Yoona! I am so sorry!" He looked like a giant school boy being punished by his teacher.

Tiffany folded her arms to watch him, admitting that she would have never in a thousand years guessed that this giant would be kneeling before anyone.

Yoona looked up, surprised at first, immediately replaced with strong disdain. Her face reddened as she impulsively raised her hand into a fist, and then threw a few articles of clothing directly at Taec.

One of the short pairs of shorts landed perfectly atop his head.

"Unnie, let's just go. It's not here," Yoona said defiantly.

Tiffany pretended to spot something on the ground in faked surprise, "Here it is!" And she bent to pick up the hat that she had in her hand.

Yoona grabbed the hat, placed it on her head and followed Tiffany quickly to the doorway. They could not get past the large, impeding kneeling figure. Yoona folded her arms and impatiently tapped her foot on the ground. She began counting out loud, "One… Two…."

"THREE MINUTES," she heard a stage hand call down the hall to them. The voice actually belonged to none other than Seulong, who was observing, shaking his head at his pitiful friend.

Taecyeon lifted his bowed head, shook off the pair of shorts, and looked at Yoona. "I was wrong," he admitted. "Can you give me just one minute?" His eyes were filled with remorse, and even Tiffany could see his raw sincerity.

"Not now," Yoona replied impatiently. "We're up next, now MOVE!"

He released a sigh and stood to his full stature, and allowed Tiffany to pass. As Yoona walked by him, he swerved and embraced her from behind. His hands were lowered around her abdomen, because he wanted to make sure not to offend her this time by touching anywhere he shouldn't.

"Thirty seconds, I promise," he whispered near the side of her head.

"Aigoooo," she said impatiently. "HURRY!" She attempted to pull his arms off from around her waist.

"Yoona," Taec said softly, full of remorse, "… after this, I won't touch you ever again without your permission. Just hold still for 30 seconds." He loved the smell of her. She never had to wear perfume because her body had its own sweet scent. He inhaled it deeply, knowing it might be an awful long time until he was this close to her again.

"What I did was unacceptable."

"Pffff," she blew a raspberry from her mouth, "The understatement of the year!"

He pressed on as if his life depended on it.

"I know I've ruined our chances, but you have to know… you have to realize… that I've always liked you. I just lost control. It won't happen again. You have my word."

He slowly released her and turned her shoulders so that she was facing him.

"Please forgive me, Yoona. I was wrong. I can't bear it if you hate me."

"TWO MINUTES," called Seulong.

Taec recognized the anger in her eyes. He had seen it before up close. But this time she attempted to veil it. He thought he saw sparks firing from both eyes, yet she reached up and touched his hands that were on her shoulders.

She suddenly grabbed both hands with her own and tossed them roughly aside, and in one fluid, almost choreographed moment she brought up her right knee as hard as she could.

Taecyeon grabbed his groin as the pain shot throughout his body. He dropped to his knees with a loud moan and clenched his eyes and teeth tightly closed.

"Holy…mother…of…" was all he managed to mumble.

Yoona grabbed a completely shocked Tiffany by the hand and took off in a full, bursting run down the hall toward the stage.

Seulong had sucked in his breath at the very second that Yoona nearly neutered Taec with her knee.

He strode over to quickly his younger brother, who was tossing back and forth on the ground, still holding his private, damaged goods.

Seulong kneeled down and patted him roughly on his butt, trying to deflect the pain that only another man can relate to… "That went well."

"Not… another… word…hyung."

"I'm just wondering if you can still rap as a Soprano?"


	14. Chapter 14

"Ong Hyung," called Khun from the livingroom, "Don't add the melted butter to the whole bowl, just take yours out first and add it to yours!"

"Yah!" yelled back Seulong from the kitchen, "I'm the one making the popcorn, so I'll make it any way I like!"

Chansung and Khun exchanged knowing glances at each other and Channie jumped up and whispered to Khun, "I'll get us some bananas in case it comes out too buttery. Save my seat!"

"Junho," Seulong instructed the young man next to him, "We don't need any glasses, we can drink the beer right out of the bottle like real men!"

"It's almost on!" bellowed Khun from the living room.

All three men in the kitchen scurried, bumping in to each other as they tried to hurry.

"TAEC," yelled Khun, "Dude, it's starting!"

Taecyeon emerged from his dorm bedroom and walked toward the couch, just as Chansung was about to sit down, he pulled him by the arm and nodded his head toward the floor.

"But I was there first!" Chansung protested.

Taecyeon glared at Changsung, and the maknae immediately sat down near the table of food.

"Khunnie was saving my seat!" he mumbled to himself.

Taecyeon nudged him with his foot, silencing him altogether.

"So it's the big kiss, right?" asked Junho. "Did you see the photos that leaked out? I wonder how many times they had to practice!"

Taecyeon transferred his death glare from Chansung over to Junho, who silenced himself with a mouth full of popcorn and a shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh I'm sure it isn't really her first kiss," Seulong quipped.

NichKhun turned to face his hyung and his eyes enlarged of their own accord, "How can you be so sure, after all, technically she's still underage."

As the music to Yoona's drama, 'Cinderella Man', played in the background, Seulong snuck a side glance over to Taecyeon, "Oh, call it intuition."

As the boys fed on the snacks, they took turns adding their commentary to the drama.

"Do you consider Sang Woo sunbae to be handsome?" asked Junho.

"He has a great body," nodded Chansung.

"And really fair skin too," Seulong envied.

"She probably doesn't hate him," Taecyeon mumbled loud enough for all of them to hear.

"Oh Yoona couldn't hate anyone," Khun declared. "She's got a heart of gold."

Seulong nearly choked on his beer as he looked back at Taecyeon.

Taecyeon leaned forward and mouthed, "Shut up!" back at his hyung.

"Ohhhh here it comes!" Channie sat up on his knees in anticipation.

"Are you recording this for Youngie and Junsu?" asked Junho.

"Forget them," Channie smiled, "I'm recording this for ME to replay over and over again!"

The room when silent as the scene before them unfolded. Each young man in the room had unconsciously leaned forward, and Channie's mouth was wide open as they watched the Yoona's first onscreen kiss.

The onscreen couple held hands as Sang Woo looked longingly into Yoona's eyes. Yoona's back was against the black hanging punching bag as Sang Woo stood in front of her. The softly melody played as Sang Woo closed the distance between them.

"Owwwwwwwww!" they all bellowed in unison as Sang Woo leaned slowly forward and gently kissed their princess Yoona. Yoona's eyes closed, and then as they parted they both shared a tender, caring smile with each other.

"Dude!" yelled Channie, "He's 33 years old, that should be a crime!"

"Fourteen years age difference is nothing these days," reasoned Seulong, "After all, if Heechul can go around kissing all his members, then Yoona can certainly get some on screen!"

Taecyeon reached over and pushed Seulong's head to the side as he stood and marched silently out of the room.

"Ah Cham!" Khun watched Taec's back as he left the room. "What gotten into him?"

Seulong chuckled and faced the TV screen, "Not what, who." And he shook his head as he stood to follow his brooding younger friend, grabbing a bottle of beer on his way.

"So what's Plan B?" Seulong leaned against the door and took a swig from his beer.

"Do you think they really practiced that scene multiple times?" Taec mumbled from the edge of his bunk bed.

"Well," Seulong considered, "Since her first kiss was at 16, and her next kiss was you lip-raping her, I'd say that she probably really did need the practice."

"Screw you."

"No, it's actually you who is screwed, that is, unless you come up with Plan B."

"I don't know," shrugged Taec, feeling completely dejected. "I mean, she's never seen me as a man. Not once has she noticed me. Even when we share the same stage, I feel like I'm on the outside looking in. She's got those damn 'oppas' constantly around her."

"She's very popular," admitted Seulong. "Yoona is the kind of girl that makes you feel comfortable. Never awkward… so you will need to think about how to differentiate yourself from the others."

"Oh I've already done that," Taec snidely responded.

"Maybe next time try not to attack her?" Seulong walked over to his friend and offered him the bottle of beer.

Teac shook his head, refusing the beverage and sighed.

"Hyung, you think I didn't know that it was wrong? I can't even explain it, no matter how many times I replay it in my head. It's like … it's like running across a busy street during a short break in the traffic. You know you shouldn't do it, you know it's dangerous, but some idiotic switch gets flipped, giving you the confidence to go for it…and you start running, thinking you can beat the cars! You take the chance!"

He looked up at Seulong drinking from the bottle and paused.

"And then you become road kill… or in Yoona's case, a Eunuch."

Seulong wasn't expecting the dry humor, and sprayed his mouthful of beer directly at Taecyeon, soiling his t-shirt and jeans in one go.

"Aish!" Taec yelled at Seulong. "Now look at me!" He stood up and removed his cotton shirt, wiped off his face and arms with it and tossed it on the ground.

"You need skills!" Seulong instructed.

"This isn't a romance Manhwa or Drama," Taec said, as he unbuttoned his jeans. "It's not like I can grab her by the wrist and drag her off stage… or wait around for her to sprain an ankle and offer her a piggy back ride."

"Maybe it's YOU who needs the practice," Seulong teased, as he watched Taec push his jeans down to his ankles. "You can't even get a tomboy to notice you."

Taec's snarky grin quirked upwards, revealing a huge dimple in his right cheek. "Oh she noticed me, just not the way I want to be remembered." And unconsciously he rubbed his groin.

It was as if Seulong's radar had beamed directly on to Taec, as he was instantly filled with a prankish thought. He saw the chance to cheer his friend out of his blue mood. He bounded over to the tall, well built man, and attempted to pounce on his back.

"I'll let you practice with me, give me a piggy back ride!"

"Are you crazy? What are you doing?" Taecyeon was caught completely off guard as his jeans were wrapped around his ankle. He went tumbling down onto the floor, kneeling on all fours.

Seulong was still holding him from behind, in his tackle hug. "Save a horse, ride a cowboy!" He teased Taec holding him around his waist.

The boys in the living room turned their heads to look at one another at loud THUD, all three ran down the hall to investigate.

They nearly tripped over one another as they rushed to see what happened. They skidded to a stop when the saw Taecyeon on all fours, shirtless, and pants around his ankles. Seulong was behind him, also on his knees, with his arms wrapped around his Taec's waist.

Taec saw the shocked faces of his dorm mates, and raised arms off the floor straightening himself. Seulong quickly surmised the misunderstanding, and fueled the fire by reaching for his own jeans button and zipper, pushing Taec back on all fours.

"Oh Teac," he cried out dramatically exaggerating, "I JUST CAN'T QUIT YOU!"

The three boys standing in the doorway busted out laughing at the Brokeback Mountain reference and Channie scurried to his own dorm yelling behind him, "Wait Hyung, I'll get the camera!"

Back at the SNSD dorm, Tiffany, Yuri, Sunny and Yoona sat and watched the exact same drama scene unfold on their big screen LCD TV. The other members were guests on Taeyeon's Chin Chin radio program.

The girls had laid several blankets on the ground, covered it with pillows and watched the TV drama come to a close with the final scene building up.

As the kiss scene was revealed, each of the girls, except Yoona, squealed loudly!

"Yahhhh Yoona!" exclaimed Tiffany, "You're so awesome! Those lips of yours have kissed one of the greatest men on this earth!"

Sunny added, "He's like the all time greatest kisser ever! Who could ever forget that elevator scene in Bad Love?"

Yuri raised a pillow to her chest and gave it a hard squeeze. "Oh Yoona," she sighed, "I truly am jealous of you at this moment!"

Yoona just laughed at all her sisters comments and shook her head at them.

"Did you mess up on purpose," Sunny suggested, "So that you had to practice it several times?"

"I would have!" chimed in Tiffany.

Yoona's phone began to chime, one text message after the other. She shook her head as she read the messages from her oppas.

"Remember your first," Ryeowookie texted with a heart symbol.

"She's no longer a young girl, but a fully grown lady now!" Siwon texted.

"I miss you Yoong," Teukkie typed, "Even monkeys know how to kiss now a days!"

"How dare you kiss Sang Woo Sunbae before me!" Heechul tweeted.

"Heenim and I actually stopped our game of Starcraft to watch you tonight, Yoong. I think the least you could have done was offer up some tongue." The SuJu Maknae was always the biggest teaser of them all with her. She was truly a sister to him.

Her last text before she put down her phone was from DongHae.

"I'd give it a 3 out of 10. If you want a perfect 10 out of 10, you know where to find me. Any time. ;-p Oppa."

"Let's play it again!" demanded Yuri. "It passed by too quickly!"

As Sunny stood to grab the DVR's remote control Yoona attempted to explain, "It's not even close to what you guys are thinking! Sang Woo Sunbae is married! And besides, do you know how nervous I was? I brushed my teeth ten times and gargled with mouthwash for about five minutes straight!"

As Sunny pressed the replay button, the girls each watched the screen again.

"PAUSE IT!" screamed Yuri, as she watched Sang Woo's lips touch Yoona's.

"AHHHHH!" collectively they all screamed again, including Yoona, who was very embarrassed to see her onscreen-self standing so stiffly.

"He's holding down your arms!" Tiffany pointed out.

"Omo, omo, omo," Yuri exclaimed, "How did you not pounce on him, Yoona? Didn't you want to raise your hands up and touch his chest?"

They each let out a collective sigh at the mere thought.

"His chest and abs are unbeatable," proclaimed Sunny.

"His arms and shoulders are so broad and strong," observed Tiffany.

"Look at the look in his eyes after they break apart," Sunny demonstrated as she played the scene in slow motion.

"I can only imagine what the rest of him is like…" Tiffany's eyes twinkled mischievously. Each of the girls squealed in unison!

Yuri raised up the pillow she was holding against her chest, and confessed to it, "Oh Sang Woo Oppa! Please, don't…. what about your wife?" And with that she pushed the pillow into her face and fell to the ground.

"Sang Woo Oppa," Sunny joined in, "Please be gentle, after all, it's my first time!" Sunny also prostrated herself down on the floor, grabbing the body sized pillow and wrapped her arms and legs around it.

Tiffany and Yoona laughed heartedly as Tiffany asked, "Yoona, seriously, what did it feel like? How many times did you kiss him?"

Yuri sat up quickly and added, "What did he taste like?"

Yoona's face was red from both the laughter and the embarrassment that her sisters were causing her.

"We didn't rehearse it," Yoona explained. "Sang Woo Oppa said it would be better for me if we didn't rehearse. He wanted it to be natural, and he was also trying to protect me."

"He would be the one that would need protection," exclaimed Sunny, "from me!"

"Sunny," Tiffany pointed out, "You're so short and tiny, you would not survive a night with Sang Woo Oppa!"

All three girls except Yoona let out whooping sounds. Yoona was used to this type of girly banter, because this was just one of hundreds of nights when they watched romance movies together, however what she wasn't use to was being the one on the screen!

"YAH!" yelled Yoona at the lot of them. "Enough already!"

"Aigooo," Yuri tutted to Yoona, "Look at you, being all selfish and not telling us any of the good, juicy details."

"Seriously!" pouted Tiffany, "if it were any of US, we'd tell YOU!"

A wicked grin appeared on Sunny's face and she offered, "Unless you'd like to tell us about another kiss you've had…"

Yoona's eyes popped wide open and she silently gave Sunny the "you-wouldn't-dare" look.

Sunny pretended not to see Yoona and starting humming.

"PEPPERMINT!" yelled Yoona and they all jumped. "Sang Woo Sunbae tasted like Peppermint!"


	15. Chapter 15

If it weren't for her distinctive ring tone resounding in the darkness, he would not have answered his cell at 2:15 am. When the small display screen illuminated, identifying her before he had a chance to answer, he realized that just viewing a simple thing as her name made him smile even at this ungodly hour.

"I thought you had forgotten all about your Oppa," he joked, "because it's been ages since you've called me this late. Can't you sleep?"

The question was not answered. All he could hear was a soft sniffle.

Even though he had been sound asleep before the call, he was alert enough to realize something was wrong. His smile immediately dissipated.

"What is it?" he asked softly.

After a round of more sniffles, he combed his fingers through his hair and swung his legs over the side the bed and fumbled for the lamp switch.

"Are you crying?" he asked helplessly, already knowing the answer to the question.

"Junsu Oppa…" her voice cracked as she called him by his real name. Something was definitely wrong. She reserved using this name only when she was extremely serious.

"Yoon," he replied, "Tell me, please … what's the matter?"

When she hesitated he stood and began to pace the room. He quietly opened the door, and softly padded toward the kitchen. No use waking up DongHae, his room-mate.

The bright fluorescent light flickered a few times before stabilizing its glare across the kitchen counters.

Lee Teuk blinked a few times at the brightness of the light, trying to adjust to it, and growing more concerned as he heard the sniffles grow into sobs.

"Yoon," he repeated a bit louder. "It's ok, whatever it is, it will all be ok."

"I can't…" she cried, trying to breath in deeply to gain control. "I can't… do this anymore."

Teukkie walked aimlessly in the kitchen, looking down at his feet and then came to a halt. She needed him. He knew this 'voice'; he felt her tears. These tears were from pain that he also shared with her. So many years had passed between them. What was it now, seven or eight years since their very first phone call?

Back then, when she called him, she was still in middle school, a perky adolescent that he loved to tease and joke with, but who also had a very serious side to her. They would talk about how hard practices were, how frustrated she was that she couldn't sing as well as she wanted to, no matter how hard she tried. They would talk about how much she missed being home with her dad and unnie.

And she would cry.

Sometimes he would cry along with her, because it hurt him to see her hurting. Each time he would feel a pang deep within, and his heart felt like it was ripping apart when he heard her cry.

"Yoon," he repeated, "Are you alone?"

"Mmm" she nodded into the phone, attempting to stifle her sobs.

"So am I," he looked around at the empty kitchen. "Where are you?"

She hiccupped her sobs into the phone before stuttering, "Ki..ki…ktch."

"You're in the kitchen?" he smiled gently at her weak attempt. "So am I!"

He walked to one of the cupboards, and opened it and perused the contents.

"Not much here to choose from Yoon," he continued in his gentle tone, trying to comfort her with his voice. "The boys ate all the ramen for dinner. How about cereal? We can share a bowl of cereal ok?"

He heard her sniffling continue but could also hear cupboard doors opening and closing and dishes clanging on the counter.

"They don't leave us with much choice here," he continued, "I have Bran or Cherrios… how about you?"

"Fla…fla…flakes," she managed to mutter.

"Ah then you'll need some sugar, won't you?" he smiled and imagined her nodding.

"You know you're not supposed to drink cold milk at night," he told her, "but I guess there is always an exception, so let's be brave, ok?"

He thought he heard a soft half chuckle and then he knew he could do this. This was part of their relationship, what defined them. This is what made him different from all of her other Oppas.

He carried the breakfast ingredients over to the table while holding the phone with his shoulder and leaning his ear onto it.

He began to pour the cereal into the bowl and instructed her, "Ok Yoon, make yourself comfy at the table, we are going to share breakfast together. "

He poured the cold milk over the cereal and watched it slosh around the rings of oats in the bowl.

"Oppa isn't there to feed you, so you'll need to open your mouth wide… say ahhhhh!"

He heard her smile. "That's a good girl!" he praised.

As he chomped down into the first large spoonful of cereal he spoke without swallowing, "And just what was Miss Yoona Im doing with her life, this time last year?"

She took another deep breath, and he no longer heard any sobbing. It had subsided and had been replaced with short breaths into the phone.

When she didn't answer, he responded for her.

"Oh yes, Miss Yoona Im was working in one of the country's most famous dramas of all time!" He nodded at another spoonful of cereal. "And how did that go for her?"

"Oppa…" she said softly.

"Wrong answer!" he teased. "She ended up winning the BEST ACTRESS Award!"

He filled his mouth with yet another spoonful and asked her, "Are you eating?"

When he heard her chewing sounds he continued on.

"And can you believe she was one of the country's youngest actresses to have received that award? And what else? Oh yes! This year she tops it off by receiving TWO netizen popularity awards! She's getting a bit greedy, don't you think?"

Her giggle inspired and spurred him on.

"And as if the KBS Awards weren't enough, she also wins the 45th Baeksang Arts Awards: Best New Actress and Netizen Award as well! Yahhhh this girl is just too perfect!"

"Oppa!" she now said clearly, and he knew he had re-ignited her spunk.

"Is it because this girl is so beautiful and perfect that she's already starred in five of Korea's biggest boy band music videos?" He tapped his spoon thoughtfully against the rim of the bowl, "Well I guess six if you count the one with the five Bozo Risings Clowns of the East."

She laughed at his reference to DBSK and he dropped his spoon at the sound of it.

"Yoon," he ventured, "You can do this. You can do anything you put that fabulous mind to… because you're my Yoona. You're the same girl that used to call Oppa and cry because she had a crush on Choikang Changmin and he left for Japan, leaving you devastated at the tender age of 15. But you always kept that secret from him. You got through that didn't you?"

"Yes," she responded softly.

"And what about when Heechul teased you relentlessly until you cried a few months ago, who was the one that whacked him on the head with a rolled up magazine?"

"Me," she smiled again.

"And who is the SNSD girl that half of Super Junior as well as other idols want to marry?" he softened his voice a bit and reflected about how he himself would love to have her by his side for the rest of his life, not as his wife but as something much more than a friend, and yet different from a sister.

"Yuri Unnie," Yoona quipped.

"YAH!" Teukkie scolded her so loudly that he didn't realize that his room mate had drowsily walked down the hall and stopped just short of the kitchen.

"Don't make Oppa come over there now!" he teased her.

"Thank you, Junsu Oppa."

"No Yoon," he corrected her, "Thank you. Thank you for being in my life."

DongHae knew he would be intruding in a private moment, and whatever it was that had them talking about at 2:30 in the morning, was between them. He padded softly back to his room and was once again grateful that his best friend loved Yoona just as much as he did.

"Yoona," Teukkie continued to scoop the cereal as he spoke, "You'll only rise higher from here. You're almost getting beyond Oppa's reach, you know?"

"Never," she promised.

"Ahhh I'll remember that when you're sneaking out of the dorm, going on some midnight rendezvous with some undeserving but extremely lucky man!"

"Like that will ever happen."

"Oh it will. And my heart will break just a little bit more than it did tonight when that happens. But Yoong…" he felt his own eyes watering as he contemplated how quickly she had grown into a beautiful young woman. "You must always remember how precious you are to Oppa, promise?"

"You're my Junsu," she closed her eyes and secretly gave thanks that she had him. She could always depend on him when she was at her worst. He was like a guiding light for her during her roughest moments.

"And you're my Yoon," he almost whispered.

After several seconds of silence he stood quickly and carried the bowl to the sink and turned on the tap to rinse it out.

"So tell me what is on your busy schedule?"

"Well we have the usual music shows each weekend," she tried to calculate her calendar mentally when she added, "And I have that mini drama on Star King."

"And you're coming to watch our Super Show!" he reminded her.

"Yes Oppa," she giggled again, "I'm coming backstage to watch you all."

"Well you don't have to watch us all," he stated frankly, "Just me."

"OPPA!" she said a little too loudly and then realized she had raised her voice and she shushed him.

"Why are you shushing me? You're the one that yelled!"

He picked up the carton of milk and carried it to the refrigerator. He opened the door and placed it on the shelf, and stared at it momentarily.

"Yoong," he said in a more serious tone, "Let's make another promise. You will always call me whenever you are hurting. And I will do the same, ok?"

"Are you sure?" she asked him hesitantly. "Aren't you getting tired of me?"

"Does sun ever get tired of rising?" he asked her.

"Well I don't know… probably."

"No it doesn't. It rises automatically, without fail, because that's the way it is. Just like how the earth spins on it's axis without needing instruction or direction… it's the law of nature. And you, Yoona, are part of me. Like it or not. You can't stop the sun from rising, and you can't stop me from caring about you."

He realized he was still standing in the kitchen, holding the refrigerator door open and watching the milk carton as if it were going to move. He shook his head and closed the door.

"We will form a club. I'm the president and you're my vice-president."

"A club?" she inquired.

"Yes, a Milk* Club."

"A milk club? What's a milk club?"

"A club for us. You and me. Whenever you are feeling down, or lonely or depressed, you call me, right? And I do the same. So we will make it official."

He recognized the perkiness return to her voice, "And there are probably lots more out there like us right? Other idols, like our members even, that can join because they need help too."

"Hey now, I didn't say anything about others!"

"Oppa this is a great idea!"

"Yoona, hang on, I was talking about us. Not about anyone else."

"Oppa, if you can turn a blubbering fool like me into a happy girl, imagine what you can do for others? And hopefully what they can do for you too!"

"Alright, alright. But I get to screen whoever applies. And no one is allowed in until we both agree, ok?"

Teukkie walked over to the sofa and laid down, placing his arm under his head while holding the phone with the other hand.

"Yoona, go lay down in your bed now."

"Are we hanging up?" she asked him concerned.

"No, but I want you to lay down, and get under the covers, Oppa is going to talk to you until you fall asleep, ok?"

She nodded and headed to her room. "But Yuri unnie is sleeping."

"That's why I'm going to do the talking, and you'll listen. I have a lot to talk to you about."

"Like what?" she whispered as she entered the room quietly and headed to her bed.

"You may not ever tell me exactly what was bothering you so much tonight, but that's ok. You don't need to. You are doing what you're supposed to do with me. "

He smiled as he remembered something from earlier in week.

"If I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell him."

Yoona loved when Lee Teuk shared inside secrets about his fellow members. It was something they often did, covertly sharing tidbits and relishing them.

"Yoong, I think DongHae is getting serious. Don't tell him I told you this, but last week when we were in China he couldn't stop talking about you."

When she didn't respond he took it to mean that she was trying not to wake up Yuri.

He continued, "In two separate interviews he inadvertently selected you as his ideal woman. And the funny thing is, he doesn't even realize he's doing it!"

She whispered a reply, "He just sees me as a little sister, Oppa."

Teukkie shook his head and explained further, "You can't really think that right? I mean, hasn't it been obvious to you that he treats you completely differently than he treats the other members of SNSD?"

"How so?"

Teukkie explained about the myriad of moments that his best friend had exposed himself, without ever realizing he was doing so. Always staying next to her when they shared stages, being the first one to rush up to her to congratulate her on their awards, almost climbing over the other members just to give her a high five and grasp her hand. The momentous moment where he begged Heechul to let him have Yoona's part in Gee, and making the effort to create his own special T-shirt that read "YoonHae" on the front! What about the time they were all on Sakira and EunHyuk asked Yoona who her favorite SuJu member was, with DongHae sitting next to her, he tapped her shoulder and said repeatedly into the microphone, "DongHae, DongHae, DongHae, DongHae!"

"I think the feeling might be mutual, if I'm not mistaken." He guessed aloud.

"Oppa," she whispered, "I hold ALL of you in high regard."

"Pfffft, don't try the paparazzi answer with ME little one, I know you best of all! I probably know you better than you know yourself."

When she didn't respond he knew it was probably time to move to a different topic. She wasn't going to take the bait tonight.

"Want to hear about what Siwon did while we were in China? You'll never guess what happened in the hot springs at the hotel!"

Her best friend kept her smiling and chuckling for several more minutes before finally telling her to sleep tight, and have sweet dreams.

As he crept back into his own bed he rubbed his feet together before turning off the lamp.

"Is she ok?" DongHae asked him softly across the room.

"Did I wake you up?"

"No," he lied. "Is Yoong ok?"

"She'll be fine. After all, she has her invincible President Lee Teuk now. It feels so great being her favorite Oppa! And don't even think about pumping me for details… because I'm a gentleman, I never kiss and tell."

"You're delusional," DongHae asserted as he fluffed his pillow with his fist.

It didn't bother him that Yoona didn't call him for a shoulder to cry on. It didn't bother him that it was Lee Teuk that she had always called for these moments.

Who was he kidding! Of course it bothered him! But he accepted it because he knew that she was always in better shape after hanging up the phone with Lee Teuk than before she called.

"All I need to know is if we need to go kick someone's ass or not."

Teukkie smiled into the darkness at his brooding, protective roommate, who still had not realized his own feelings for Yoona. Didn't he know why he was always the first one to rush to her side?

"If there's anyone delusional in this room," Teukkie clarified, "It would be the man that refuses to recognize what's in his own heart."

When no response came from the darkness, he continued.

"Hae, I know why you refuse to act on it, and I respect that. But how long do you think you can keep this up? You're beyond smitten. You've committed yourself to her, without even telling her."

Still nothing.

"I just don't know how you can stand it. It must take some super human will power to not tell her, or at least show her. I mean, now a days, you can barely restrain yourself from touching her …"

His observation was rudely interrupted by a flying pillow to the face, which he did not see coming, because of the dark.

"Yah!" Teuk tossed the pillow back across the room. "I'm just saying that she's getting older now. If you don't act, someone else will!"

The returned pillow missed its mark and hit the wall instead. DongHae reached down and retrieved it before answering.

"She's still not ready," he finally admitted. "If she were ready, it would be me that she called tonight, instead of you."

"Pabo," was all that Teukkie said in reply.

The room grew silent and DongHae strained to see the ceiling as he reflected on her. He recalled how she would wrap her arms around his waist when she rode on his bike, and lay her head on his back. He recalled several weeks prior when she called him, and asked him to take her out for the day… when he picked her up she ran into his arms.

He recalled what it felt like to hold her close. The silkiness of her hair, the slender, small back, and how her arms wrapped around his own back.

The longing was almost unbearable for him.

"Soon, Yoong," he whispered to himself. "Soon."

He never saw the crooked smile across the room.

A/N: Milk Club (우유클럽) is a kind of play in words. 우유 means milk and 클럽 means club. 우유 is made up of the characters from two words: **우**울한 (which means depressed, melancholic) and **유**령 (which means spirit, ghost etc). So added together Milk Club means the 'Depressed Spirits Club'.


	16. Chapter 16

**"**If a lie makes her happy, then telling her one is forgivable right?" Taec spoke to his own reflection as he attempted to bolster his confidence. He had run through the scenario so many times in his mind. There was no other way. If he wanted to be acknowledged by Yoona ever again, he would have to lie to her.

That would buy him the time he needed to get himself in check. He wasn't a teenager after all, so how hard could it be to keep himself in control around her.

"Harder than anything I've ever done," he admitted to himself as he looked down at the empty sink.

He turned on the tap and began running cool water over his hands and then patted down his cheeks and chin, dampening them. He squeezed the gel squish onto his palm he observed it closely. When it oozed from the can, it came out in a blue gel form, but as soon as he added a bit of water and began to lather his cheeks with it, it turned to white, rich, warm foam. Maybe it was because all he could ever think about now was Yoona, but he couldn't help but compare the metamorphosis of the shaving cream to that of his own change he went through because of her.

It was Yoona that brought about a change in him. He had never been like this before he fell for Yoona. When he wasn't around her, he was cool, calm and collected. He focused on working, and when he played with his members and friends he thoroughly enjoyed himself. He was even the life of the party, you might say. But after meeting her, getting to know her, and growing close to her in a short year, she changed him. He was uncertain, excited, frustrated, clumsy, unconfident, lustful and yet happier than he could ever remember. Until he messed things up between them. But that was part of the change as well. He had lost control. He never knew what he was going to do or say when he was around her. His life had become unpredictable just by opening his heart to one singular person.

He raised the razor to his face and began a slow, smooth stroke down the right side of his cheek. There was no reason he couldn't do this. It was the only way she'd accept him back. He had to remind himself of this over and over again if he was going to be successful.

He would just have to convince her that he wasn't interested in her, and that he wanted to continue as friends. He could do it. He had no other choice… it was either that or continue in this devastating drought he was undergoing. She wouldn't talk to him. She completely ignored him, and his calls and he couldn't bare the indifference any longer. Anything would be better than this!

As he rinsed the foam from the razor he reflected back to the Star King special stage performance he had witnessed with Khunnie and Yoona dancing to a cutesy love story. It wasn't the performance that bothered him. After all, it was as innocent as it could be. It was all lollipops, cotton candy and sugary sweetness. He watched them together from behind stage in the Green Room, as a guest of Khun, and he had to smile at the gleam in his fellow member's eyes. Taec knew just how much Khun was looking forward to this moment. He had spoke of it non-stop for the past month, and he even caught him practicing his winks and smiles in the mirror. Khun wasn't a threat, he was harmless. At least that's how Taec saw him.

The one that worried Taec was not in 2PM. He was the man that she knew for over 8 years, since her pre-teen years. Taec had a feeling that this 'Oppa' was the real threat. He sensed that when DongHae was around Yoona, he was even more protective than the others. It wasn't that he commanded her attention or was obsessive about her, but Taec noticed that when Yoona was with him, she surrendered to him, without hesitation. She hung on his every word. It was almost as if they understood each other without speaking at times. And that was definitely a problem.

As he rinsed the remaining cream from his face he turned side to side to inspect his handiwork.

The memory came rushing back to him, un-summoned, and unwanted.

He was holding two cold water bottles and walked to greet them at the door as Yoona was chattering with Khun.

"You did so well with the waterfall! I can't believe you didn't even get a drop on you!"

"Well it's like skipping rope, right? You just need to get the timing down."

"No way! You can skip rope?"

"I can skip… even "double-dutch" he said the last part in English and demonstrated by waving his hands one over the other.

"Yeah right!" She threw her head back and laughed and then slapped him softly on the shoulder.

"No lie!" Khun defended himself, "My younger sisters and I often played together, and some days it I would be stuck in a room with them and their Barbies, and on better days we played outside."

"BARBIES?" Yoona's laughter was even louder than the first burst, and he was amazed at how wide her mouth opened when she guffawed.

"Where do you think I learned how to accessorize so well?" Khun held his head up high, and then looked down at her and winked.

"Dude, you should never repeat that story again, or else Jay and Channie will never let you live it down!"

Khunnie chuckled at his fellow member as he approached and reached for one of the cold water bottles that Taec offered.

"Well then you're sworn to secrecy! If they hear about it, we will know that Yoona was the one that spilled the beans!"

He turned back to Yoona and realized that she was no longer laughing, as a matter of fact, her smile completely disappeared. She glanced at Taec's extended hand holding the second water bottle, and she deliberately faced Khun and bowed.

"All your secrets are safe with me Nichkhun." She glanced at her bare wrist and unconsciously touched the spot where her watch should have been. "I have to run, but thank you again for such a great job today, you were awesome!"

There was no doubt in Khun's mind that she had completely ignored Taecyeon's very presence. This was not like Yoona. She was never rude. He couldn't believe it… as he watched her turn and leave he found himself bowing a bit too late and wanted to call out to her. But he only ended up sputtering, "See ya later Yoona!"

He whipped around to face Taec and looked him directly in the eye. "Ok son, you have some explaining to do. What the hell was that about?" He had reverted back into speaking English as he often did with Taec when they were alone.

Taec merely looked down at the unaccepted water bottle and shrugged as he twisted it open and drank from it.

"Don't' give me that," Khun said sternly, "There is no freaking way that she would do that without just cause."

Taecyeon couldn't face Khun and turned and walked to the nearby sofa and sat on it with a heavy sigh.

"I f*cked up."

"No kidding!" Khun agreed a bit too loudly. "How?"

"That part doesn't matter Khun. Please don't make me say anymore. It hurts just thinking about."

"Well it must have been a monumental screw of the pooch for you to get the cold shoulder like that."

"You could say that." Taec admitted.

"Well that's one less rival to worry about," Khun said jokingly as he walked across the dressing table and pulled out the wipes and began removing his stage make up.

"Say another word, and the world will know about you playing Barbies!"

"Ok, Ok, OK!" Khun surrendered playfully. "I'm just gonna say one last thing: we both know that she's a long shot for us. Seriously. So whatever you did to get on her sh*t list, if I were you, I would consider building her a Taj Mahal or something!"

Before he knew it, one week turned into two, and he found himself working harder than he had in a while. He was asked by his sunbae, Ji Young Baek to record a duo song for her latest album. The song actually came out better than he had expected, since he was only used to rapping. This time he actually had some melody to sing, and because it was tradition to present every new come back song on the weekly music shows, he had prepared quite a bit for their live performances. The song was provocative as much as it was romantic. The dance moves they choreographed for the MV would also be used in the live performances, and he found himself actually enjoying himself for the first time in weeks.

Their first performance together was on Music Core, and Taec was a bundle of nerves. He had never had the spotlight on him like this before. He didn't want to screw up for the sake of Noona Ji Young. She had been so patient with him has they worked together both recording and choreographing the song. He felt pressured like no other but he knew this was a great chance for him to shine. He had felt so honored when JYP told him that Ji Young Baek wanted HIM to be her duo partner!

He placed the black studded leather jacket on and eyed himself up and down. Black shoes, black jeans, black tee that was ribbed with rips all down the front so that his chest and abs peeked through. The jacket made the outfit complete. He placed on his black shades and headed out to meet his partner.

He found himself shaking his hands to loosen some of the tension as he walked, and inhaled and exhaled deeply.

Ji Young looked beautiful. She had jean capris on, with a black bra covered by a mini leather vest that exposed her midriff. Her hair was covered with a beret decorated with rhinestones and crystals. She was much older than him, but still looked fine as ever. No, she was even hotter than every younger woman he could think of … with the exception of one. But he quickly removed that thought from his mind as he grinned appreciatively at his partner.

"Noona, you're smokin'!" Taec complimented her as she approached him. They had become much closer these past several weeks working together non stop for this release.

"The one that is smokin' is …" she ran her index finger along the torn ribbings coming in to contact with his skin, "YOU!"

"Noona," Taec chuckled softly at her flirting as he looked ahead, just beyond her at the staff in the hallway, "People are watching."

"And what have I always told you?" She didn't bother to remove her hand, instead she flattened her palm against his chest. "If you got it…" she reached into his shirt and brushed her fingers over his right nipple, "Flaunt it!"

Taec grabbed her wrist and held it as he slowly pulled it away from his chest. His eyes held her gaze and he watched as she pouted with a smirk.

"You're going to ruin me before I even get up on stage tonight. Now stop, or I'll never get through this performance standing."

Ji Young glanced downwards below Taec's waist and giggled as she took his hand that was holding her wrist. "Come on Junior, let's do this before you burst out of those jeans! That would make the ratings skyrocket!"

As they hurried down the hall, Taec never noticed Yoona and Yuri, frozen behind him.

"Yah Yoona!" Yuri spurted out, "Did you just see that!"

Yoona merely nodded as she made the effort to walk toward the stage. Just her luck, SNSD were performing after "My Ear's Candy." They began to head to the right wing of the stage and watched the playfully erotic performance.

While all the other members giggled and ogled Taecyeon as he sang and danced with Ji Young, Yoona wanted to look away and force herself to remember what a jerk he had been. But somehow she couldn't take her eyes off of them, as something inside her made her watch. He began the song wearing the sunglasses and she had to admit, he looked extremely sexy dancing so closely with Ji Young Baek. She observed their rhythm and their hips moved as one with him behind, holding on to her bare waist and hip and they gyrated together, singing, "I love you," in several languages.

"Gawd," Jessica whispered a bit too loudly, "When did Taecyeon get that hot?"

Tiffany smirked and responded, "That devil has always been hot, he just chooses the stage to show it."

Hyoyeon was mimicking his dance moves and especially took great pride in the exaggerated lip wipe that he did. "Oppa has the killer moves tonight!"

Taecyeon had become immersed in the performance and had not even realize that SNSD were collectively watching them. He could hear the cheers of the audience as he playfully flirted with this Noona, and she leaned on his chest while he leaned his head forward bending slightly so she could hold her mic up for him to sing with as they swayed when he sang "Wo Ai Ni."

Yoona recalled an email she had received from him two weeks ago.

He must have begged Tiffany for her email address, which was no surprise since they were so close. But what surprised her was the contents of the email.

_"Yoona,_

_I was playing the piano the other day, and realized how out of tune it was. As I struck the sour notes, it came to me that this is what I am like without your friendship. Out of tune. I know I don't deserve to ask you this, but there's no other way. I may never gain your forgiveness, but I am hoping that we can still be friends._

_You know the Bible says that of Trust, Hope and Love, the greatest of these is love. As the empty weeks passed between us, without any contact, I thought, surely the greatest is trust. Because once you lose a person's trust, you've lost everything. But you know what? You don't fall in love with someone because you trust them. You trust them because you love them._

_If I've ruined the chances for friendship, then I'll understand. Even if you hate me, it's better than ignoring me. I know you don't love me, and you may never be able to trust me again._

_But I hate to think that I've lost our friendship, when I remember the times we spent together in the past, they are some of my fondest memories. I remember every minute, every second that I have ever spent with you. I remember what you were wearing, how you laughed, how you can make sparks fly from your eyes, and how you make me feel when I'm around you._

_I'm full of flaws, Yoona. I make too many mistakes. I know you don't need me, but I need you._

_If you'll let me, I'll be your brother and friend. If not, then please hate me, scream at me, hit me, or something. Just speak to me again, please!_

_Your pain in the ass,_

_Taecyeon"_

She watched as the dancing came to a climatic end, with Taec brushing Ji Young Baek's cheek as she leaned in close to him. The response from the audience was deafening. They were a huge hit!

As they left the stage, the SNSD girls each raised their hands up to him and Ji Young to congratulate them with high fives as they passed by. Ji Young was in front of Taec, and she approached Yoona and Yoona bowed quickly. Taec followed. His face was glistening with sweat and his smile shone ear to ear, as he walked toward her. The stage lights turned off as the MCs began to speak again, congratulating the performance and preparing the audience for the next.

Taec noticed immediately that Yoona had lowered her hand as he came up to her. Without a second of hesitation he leaned in and said, "Good luck out there! We warmed them up for you."

He then moved forward, following Ji Young as she was quickly surrounded by other staff and managers congratulating her. He almost didn't feel the tug on the back of his leather jacket.

He looked over his shoulder and stopped immediately when he saw Yoona holding up her hand in the air.

Instinctively he raised his hand, almost in disbelief that she was actually going to high five him! Yoona couldn't help but snort at his reaction. She moved up to him and with her free arm she pulled his wrist forward, and then with the raised hand she pulled as hard as she could on Taec's left ear.

As the other members scurried to their stage spots, Yoona twisted the ear as she pulled it down do her lips.

"Do anything like that again, and you're dead!"

She released him just in time to run out to her spot before the lights came on.

Taec didn't think he could have smiled any bigger than he already was after the performance, hearing the crowd roar with approval. He raised a hand and rubbed his scarlet red ear lobe. Then forgetting where he was, he pumped his fist in air and yelled, "YES!"

Ji Young turned to face him, and shook her head at his raw exuberance.

Yoona faced the audience and couldn't resist smiling at his unguarded reaction off stage.


	17. Chapter 17

As the three young men stretched on the wooden floor of the mid-sized indoor court they each released foul complaints against the stiffness and burning aches they felt with each movement. DongHae raised his forehead off from his outstretched knees and rolled his head counter-clockwise, closing his eyes. Kyuhyun attempted to reach his toes but settled for wrapping his hands around his ankles as he lowered his forehead toward his knees. Kangin sprawled his legs wide apart and leaned his torso to his right side as he reached for his toes and groaned at the attempt.

"And just how the hell are we supposed to play two on two without Siwon?" Kangin spouted out in frustration.

"He'll be here when he can be here," DongHae opened his eyes and turned to face Kangin, "Not like he knew he was going to get grabbed by Sunbae and marched upstairs."

Kyuhyun stood, satisfied that he had stretched enough, and walked over to pick up the basketball from the floor, and slowly began a steady dribble.

"Let's just warm up with free throws until he comes back," he offered.

"I could always text Kibum to haul himself over here," Kangin countered, "He's never busy! He's probably lazing around the dorm."

"Let's give him a half hour," DongHae compromised, "If he's not back by then, get Kibum."

The rhythmic bouncing sounds filled the room as each of the three took turns at the hoop, with Kangin and Kyuhyun trailing behind DongHae by a basket each.

They would not have even noticed the gym door open if it weren't for her protests.

"Oppa!" Yoona exclaimed in a firm voice, and they all turned to her direction as they saw her trying to wrench her hand free from Siwon's grasp.

Siwon didn't bother to reply but with a confident smirk he pulled her further in to the room, as the ball dribbling immediately halted at the scene.

DongHae found himself walking forward without a second thought, bothered by the fact that Siwon was holding her hand without her permission.

"Siwon," he said louder than even he expected, with Kangin and Kyuhyun now following behind him. "What's the meaning of this?"

Siwon patted Yoona on the head with his free hand but still held her hand firmly in his own.

"She's my Black Knight."

Yoona was even more confused now than ever and again attempted to shake her hand free. "Yah! Oppa! Why …"

She wasn't able to finish because DongHae had stepped up to them and took ahold of both of their wrists, forcing their hands apart.

Both Siwon and Yoona looked at him in surprise waiting for some sort of response but none came.

Yoona quickly interjected, "DongHae Oppa, I was minding my own business, just finishing up a practice session when I saw Siwon! He didn't even explain, he just said, "Perfect timing!"

DongHae stood there glaring at Siwon, causing the taller man to drop his smile and replace it with a look of confusion.

"What" asked the taller man, "Its perfect! She can be my replacement."

Kangin came up from behind DongHae and patted him on the back. When it came to subtleties, Kangin understood. He knew that for whatever reason, almost every member felt a kinship of some kind toward their sisters of the same company, but especially this tomboy that was in the room with them now. She was their favorite.

"Siwon," Kangin intercepted, "You know if you manhandle our princess that you're bound to pay the consequences."

Yoona blew a raspberry, "Pfffttt, princess! Hah! More like your rag doll!"

"Listen up idiots," Siwon tried to gain control of the conversation, "I have been asked to go upstairs for a meeting with the marketing executives, and I didn't want to leave you high and dry so…" He placed his arm around Yoona's shoulders pulling her closer to him. "So here's my replacement!"

Yoona looked up at him in disbelief.

"This was your big surprise?"

"Come on," he gave her shoulders a light squeeze, "You know you love playing basketball with us."

"That was years ago!" she defended, "I'm a lady now!"

All four of them burst out laughing at her.

How dare they laugh at her! She gave Siwon a sharp elbow into his gut which immediately released his arm from around her shoulder. She attempted to punch Kangin in the belly but he dodged and pushed Kyuhyun in her direction. The maknae didn't have time to recover, and immediately got a sucker punch in the stomach. His face turned red and he bent over feigning pain.

DongHae immediately threw his hands up in surrender before she did something to him, and she crossed her arms in front of her.

"I have better things to be doing than being the brunt of your jokes," she told them. She turned to leave the room, but they all called after her.

It was Kangin that reached for her shoulder and leaned over and said to her, "Don't go, little one, you know we were just kidding!"

Siwon mussed up her hair and waved as he turned to leave. "Just remember that whoever loses has to buy lunch!"

The familiar glint in Yoona's eyes lit up as soon as food was mentioned.

"Really?" she asked eagerly to the remaining three members.

"She'll be on my team." DongHae announced.

"No way!" Kyuhyun protested!

"Rock, paper, scissors," Kangin declared. "Whoever wins gets Yoong."

"That's more like it!" She said more confidently now. She wasn't aware that the reason they all wanted her on their side was because they knew how competitive she could be when it came to food!

Kangin won and sauntered over to Yoona with the basketball. He nudged her and motioned with his head to follow him. They walked several steps away and he stood in front of her with his back to the other two, so they couldn't see or hear the conversation.

Both Kyuhyun and Donghae looked alarmed when they heard her exclaim, "Ehh!"

But Kangin got a bit more animated and they knew they were in for the infamous strategies of the cheating king!

"What do you think he has planned?" Kyuhyun asked.

"Whatever it is, we just need to use our heads," DongHae responded. "She can't drive past either one of us because she isn't fast enough, so we'll take turns guarding Kangin. You first because you're bigger."

"Don't underestimate her," Kyuhyun warned, "This is lunch we're talking about, and she's a heck of a lot stronger than you might think."

"Tell me something I don't know!" DongHae said.

"RULES!" Kangin yelled in their direction, startling them both. "Yoona cannot be fouled no matter what she does. She's a girl so you have to give her a break."

"WHAT!" both protested.

"And we only play half court," Kangin added.

With that he tossed the ball to DongHae, "We'll let you take it out first since we have the edge of Yoona on my team."

Hae walked over to the mid court mark and bounced the ball a few times, looking up for Kyuhyun to come and receive it. But there in front of him was Yoona, waving her hands like a mad woman, bouncing up and down. What he could not get over was the hilarious faces she was making at him as she attempted to block him. She scrunched her face up, alternating from popping her eyes so big that it seemed they were going to fall out, and then sticking her tongue out at him.

He stopped bouncing the ball and threw his head back and laughed a huge belly laugh at her.

"What the heck are you doing…" but before he realized it, she had grabbed the ball from his hands, and tossed it over to Kangin, who quickly took aim, shot, and scored the first basket!

"You call that fair?" DongHae protested.

"Who said anything about playing fair," Kangin called back to him, "This is lunch we're talking about."

The game continued with Yoona constantly blocking DongHae with her antics. If it wasn't making faces, she would wink at him, and the most distracting move of all was when she placed a hand on her knee, leaning over, hair falling freely to one side, and slowly licked her lips, raising her face directly at him.

DongHae stopped in his tracks, the ball was left to bounce across the court without him. He swallowed and then walked up to her.

"Is that what Kangin told you to do?"

She shrugged and stuck her tongue back out at him and began to turn so she could watch Kangin rescue the abandoned ball and circle near the basket. DongHae was no longer watching the other two male members, but turned Yoona to face him.

His look was one she hadn't seen before. He wasn't angry, but he wasn't exactly smiling either. He had a small grin on his face, but his eyes were intensely darker than usual.

"Yoong, I'm warning you, if you continue these distraction techniques, I can't be held responsible for my actions."

When she didn't seem to comprehend what he meant he leaned in to her, and whispered in her ear, "Do not stick out your tongue at me unless you're willing to use it."

Her eyes grew large, and it was his turn to smirk at her reaction.

It was clear from the beginning that DongHae and Kyuhyun wouldn't stand a chance against those two. Between Kangin's superior basketball skills, and Yoona's antics, they won by 3 baskets.

As the other two walked back to retrieve their water bottles and towels, DongHae tapped Yoona on the shoulder, motioning her to stop and talk.

"Listen, Yoong," he started, "all joking aside, we need to talk. Now isn't the time, but how about later on, after lunch?"

She thought about her schedule and was secretly relieved that she had finished filming the drama, and didn't have dance practice until the following day. She nodded her head in agreement and felt excited with anticipation.

It was a nervous excitement. She wasn't sure what he wanted to talk about, but something came to mind, as he smiled softly at her and walked away to get his own water.

She remembered a few weeks ago when she and some of her sister members attended the Super Show backstage. They watched how warmly the fans cheered and how motivated each of the SuJu members performed. It was a momentous concert for them, at home in Korea, after traveling so much in Taiwan and China, they were giving their first big "Super Show" concert at home, in Seoul.

They were so grateful, happy and overwhelmed with joy when they came back stage after the performance. Each of them hugged each other and a few of them were even crying. Siwon was the biggest baby of them all, breaking down and hugging his brothers in tears.

But DongHae… he only sought out one person to congratulate him. As soon as he came off, and headed back to the wings of the stage, he saw them. The group of SNSD sisters that clapped for their brothers.

He felt himself propelled to her. Almost like a rocket, he aimed straight for her. He saw the look of pride in her eyes as he nearly ran to her, and they both opened their arms at the exact same time, embracing each other tightly. For that brief moment, time stopped.

No one else existed around them. He held her tightly and she wrapped her arms under his own, and held on to his back.

She was so happy for him, and for the way they killed it on stage. They could still hear the crowd cheering!

It wasn't until another member mentioned that there was a camera shooting Behind The Scenes that they realized they were still embracing.

Reluctantly he broke his embrace and moved his way down the hall.

As Yoona recalled that magical moment she smiled. They never discussed it since, but that wasn't really something that needed an explanation. She just felt as compelled as he did to hug, and she wasn't going to try and figure out what it meant.

The lunch flew by and before she knew it she was on the back of his bike, and they were headed out of town. She didn't care where, because she knew she would be safe with him.

What surprised her was where they ended up. It was a deserted hiking path, that led up to a steep mountain.

"Oppa," she hesitated, looking up at the path. "I had dance practice before I played basketball, I don't think I am ready for this."

He shook his head and offered his hand.

When she looked around nervously, he chuckled at her. He reached over and raised the hoodie on her jacket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his own pocket offering them to her. She waved them away.

He then pulled his own baseball cap out of his rear pocket and clamped it over his hair.

"No one is around to recognize us, Yoona. But if it makes you feel any better, I have a facemask you can wear."

He reached down and took her hand in his and they began their walk up the path.

"You know I have no idea when it all started…"

"What?" she asked.

"Me … you…. Me liking you…." He paused, "No, that's not right… me … loving you."

They hadn't even made it over a few dozen steps when his bombshell was dropped on her.

She stopped walking and he stopped as well. He didn't face her, but continued to look straight up at the summit.

"Oppa…" she said softly.

"I have never been good at hiding my feelings, Yoong. You must have known for some time now."

When she didn't answer he pointed to the top of the mountain with his free hand.

"We won't make it to the top today. I didn't bring you here to make it to the top. I brought you here because this is what it's going to be like, if you let me love you."

She followed his pointing hand and asked, "What do you mean?"

"We won't be allowed to date in the open. Everyone knows the rules of the contract. We will always need to hide and sneak around. What kind of love is that?"

When she didn't answer he continued.

"I haven't ever told you before, because I know it really isn't fair to expect you to accept this. It will be all up hill, Yoona. A constant climb for us, and when we feel tired, and depressed, we won't be able to hold each other publically. Of course I've considered the ways around it… emails, texts, secret meetings in SM building. But I will never be able to freely walk with you, holding your hand under the cherry blossoms, or down Han River. I won't be able to take my girl to dinner. Or to the movies. At least, not alone."

He turned to face her and then without warning he pulled her into his arms.

"God help me, Yoona. I'm so selfish. Even though I know it will be a miserable kind of relationship for you, I still want you to be mine."

She swallowed, and felt her tears brimming over her eyes. She closed them and the tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Tell me you don't love me, and I'll let you go."

She didn't answer him.

"Tell me, Yoong. If you don't tell me, I can't let you go. I will make us both climb, scratch, and crawl up this mountain together."

He waited, nearly pleading with her silently to reply. "Say something…"

He couldn't wait any longer, he pulled her apart from him, just enough to see her eyes, and felt his own tears when he saw hers.

"Tell me to let you go," he whispered.

She shook her head, but couldn't speak.

"I wasn't even planning to see you today. This isn't how I was supposed to tell you. It was supposed to be under a full moon, with candles, or something like that. Not after a sweaty basketball game."

She chuckled and he smiled painfully.

"But I can't hold it any longer, you know?"

"It will be the hardest thing we've ever done," he warned her. "But if you let me, I will stay by your side. I won't be able to do it publically, which will be the hardest part."

He watched he carefully. She wasn't pulling away. She wasn't denying him. She just looked into his eyes, trusting, believing, and anticipating.

"I love you, Yoona."


	18. Chapter 18

The boys weren't sure why they were called into the emergency meeting, but they knew it was serious.

Rarely were they all called into Jin Young Park's office, collectively, and never before was a corporate lawyer present in their group meetings.

Each of the boys sat around the small conference table, and waited.

Jin Young emerged out of a private connecting door, which they knew led to a private kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, fully equipped. Although he didn't sleep over in the office often, there were times when he worked until 3 or 4 in the morning, only to grab an hour or two of sleep.

Having a comfortable private space saved driving time and more expedient.

He patted his face dry with a hand towel before tossing it on a nearby sofa.

His eyes were bloodshot. His facial features revealed a grave, deep concerned look, and they began to fidget. Something definitely wasn't right.

And where was Jay? Their leader hadn't joined them, and each of them whispered as they realized he wasn't in attendance.

Jin Park cleared his throat and removed his tie, unbuttoning the two top buttons on his dress shirt.

He sat at the head of the table and let out a deep sigh. His eyes held the sadness and pain that he would not now or perhaps ever explain to them.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I called you here. You're wondering why Mr. Jeon is here, and most of all, you're wondering why Jaybeom Park isn't here."

He spoke reverently … too solemn for their comfort.

As each of the members nodded he pursed his lips, and his chin almost quivered.

"Boys, everything we discuss in this room, is absolutely confidential. I can't even have you discuss it with anyone else in the company… and it goes without saying, you'll each be asked to sign non-disclosure agreements."

As Mr. Jeon passed the forms around to each member they read the two short paragraphs. JYP-hyung has always been strict with them, when it came to their training, their work outs, their hours of practicing… but even with his business, they knew he meant it when he said that the JYP company was like a family to him.

Of course there were contracts and rules, but that was industry wide. When it came right down to it, they felt like they had been given a golden opportunity to prove to Jin Young and their own families that they could become an important part of the every increasing KPOP wave that was sweeping Asia.

He watched each one, faithfully signing the agreements and waited.

After the agreements were stamped and signed, Mr. Jeon stood and walked over to another door, and excused himself.

"Everyone…" he paused. He fought to gain composure as tears threatened to spill, and his voice cracked.

He cleared his throat and began again.

"We all, each one of us, make mistakes. Some mistakes are bigger than others."

Immediately the boys began to think of what they had done wrong that would bring about this solemn meeting.

"The bigger the mistake, the more painful the sorrow it brings."

They could have heard a pin drop. No one dared respond. He had their undivided attention. They felt like their very lives were going to change by his words.

And they were not wrong.

"And when those that are close to us… such as our family, when one of them is in pain, we can't help but ache too."

He looked up at the ceiling and then back at them, because there was no way he could stop his tears from flowing, no matter how valiantly he tried.

"I'm sorry," he said softly and each boy in turn felt the sadness overcome them, and their eyes also filled with tears.

"I'm sorry for the pain you're going to feel. I'm sorry for the disruption this may cause your careers. But most of all, I'm sorry that I can't let you say goodbye."

Khun was the first to speak, with tears flowing down his cheeks, "Hyung, what's happened? Where are we going? What did we do wrong?"

Wooyoung couldn't even find words. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

As each one attempted to say something, Jin Young raised his hand up at them and continued.

"You're not going anywhere. Jay Park will be leaving the family."

He swallowed and watched their faces as it sank in.

"He is no longer a member of 2PM."

Chansung thought he had heard wrong. Jay was their leader, how could this be?

Junsu and Junho looked around the table in confusion and Taec cleared his throat, and wiped the single tear off his cheek.

"Why?"

"I know you all deserve to know. You deserve more than anyone else in the world to know. But I can't tell you. The only thing I can tell you is that I would not have made this decision lightly. You have to believe that."

"Is this about the comments on his MySpace page," Khun challenged, "Because I thought that had blown over and was done."

"I would not terminate his contract over that. What Jaybeom has done, is something between him, God, and…." He paused. "Well, all you need to know is that consequences must follow your actions…and sometimes those consequences are dire."

"What?" Taec exclaimed louder than even he expected. "What could he have done that was so bad? What about family forgiveness?"

"Taecyeon," Jin Young said to him, sternly but in a low voice. "You must believe me when I say I wanted more than anyone to have Jay remain as part of 2PM. But it would not be right to have mistakes go by unpunished, and unpaid. Jay must redeem himself. We cannot do it for him."

"For now, we will call it a hiatus."

He watched them carefully and Junho and Wooyoung's tears now flowed freely.

"You will be asked by reporters, by friends and by your family about the sorted details. All I can tell you is that it's better that you don't know, because if you knew, you were be in even more pain than you are now."

"Where's Jay?" Khun asked earnestly.

"He's been taken back to the dorm to pack two suitcases. Everything else will be sent to his home in Seattle."

"You mean…" Junsu began.

"I mean you will not be able to say good bye to him. By the time you go back to the dorm, he will be gone. We've asked him for his cell phones, so you won't be able to reach him. It sounds harsh, but this is for all of your own protection. And for Jay's."

Jin Young watched as Wooyoung put his head down on the table and cried quietly. He was soon followed by Channie and Junho. Khun looked dazed and Taecyeon looked angry.

They waited for more of an explanation. This couldn't be happening. It must be some sort of bizarre, sadistic hidden camera joke.

Somehow though, they knew it wasn't.

"Screw this," Taec slammed his palm down onto the conference table as he pushed himself on to his feet.

"Taecyeon, sit down."

"I signed your damn form, Hyung!" Taec spat as he turned and bolted toward the door.

"TAECYEON!"

This wasn't happening… it wasn't real… there is no way one of them would not be there with the others! Taec refused to believe it. It was some sort of sickass joke, like a stupid variety candid camera thing.

Their dorms were not far from the building, but it was far enough that he should have flagged down a taxi. Instead, he sprinted madly on foot, as fast as he legs could carry him.

He ran.

Inhaling.

Exhaling.

Inhaling.

People stopped and watched the tall young man, others moved out of his path when they saw his determined, almost battle-mode glare.

Jay! Not Jay. No. This wasn't real.

Sweat dripped down his chest and his temples. He felt the heat of the mid-morning rays on the back of his neck as he pumped his arms, while running. Too slow. He was going too slow! Why the hell was everyone in his way!

"EXCUSEMEEEEEE," he called out loudly, "SORRY! EXCUSE ME!" While he pushed them aside, dividing the stream of people as if it were the red sea. "PLEASE!," he cried out, "PLEASE MOVE!"

Too many blocks were still left between him and the dorm.

He refused to give up. His chiseled cheeks puffed in and out as his breathing raced in tune with his long and hurried strides.

Thoughts of Jaybeom Park's laughing face filled Taec's mind. His first memory of the skinny, cocky but quiet kid, with a baseball cap twisted on the side of his head, baggy jeans, and extra large sized LA Laker's jersey, with Nike hightops. He was all gansta in appearance, and when Taec heard him speak English, he was pleasantly surprised. A Korean-American!

Countless nights spent together, telling each other stories, secrets of their past, ambitions, fantasies… and the ever crude, but completely understandable American porn that Jay had on DVDs! The fights they had over food. The times he mocked Nickhun's Korean, only to be corrected himself.

Jay was a brother from a different mother… he was one of them!

It seemed to take forever but Taecyeon finally raced up the last few flights of stairs of their dorm before bursting through the front door.

He was covered with sweat, hair completely drenched, t-shirt plastered to him. His breaths were now ragged, trying to find enough oxygen in the room… but failing.

"JAY!" he called out loud. "JAY PARK!"

He grabbed onto his knees, inhaling… inhaling….

Exhaling… not… enough… air.

"JAY BEOM PARK!" he stumbled down the hallway.

His throat tightened. It constricted at the bald silence of the dorm.

The bedroom door was open, and drawers were ajar. Empty drawers. The nearby desk that was supposed to have the Vaio laptop, a stack of CDs, photos… all gone.

The barren half of the closet confirmed his worst nightmare.

Taec dropped down onto his knees.

No air. Why couldn't he breathe?

His body deflated, and he lurched forward, dropping his full weight onto his hands, to keep from flattening onto the ground.

On his hands and knees he let out loud, crackling laugh.

His shoulders shook with laughter as he raised his fist and pounded onto the floor.

The laughter was painful… it ripped through the room, in the very deep, low tones, that were soon replaced by jagged cackles.

Tears rolled down his cheeks, mixing with the moist sweat already there.

What the hell was this, Taec thought, as he tried to control the manic laughter.

He clamped one of his hands over his mouth, because his own ears were offended.

The shoulders shook even more fiercely, and his stomach clenched tightly as his chest heaved up and down. The laughter transformed instantly into sobs of despair.

Jay wasn't there.

He was gone.


	19. Chapter 19

"I still can't believe it," denied Khunnie as he swallowed the remaining contents of his soju bottle. It was his second one that he polished off, but he was still behind everyone else.

"This sucks more than getting dumped by a girl," Channie agreed, "And I would know!"

"It's a damn sadistic joke, is what it is," Taecyeon emptied his fourth bottle and reached for the fifth. "After all these years we've invested in training... countless hours of practice, all of it... down the drain."

Junsu wasn't singing. This was one of the very rare times when he wasn't humming or singing a tune... he stared up at ceiling of their dorm living room and contemplated.

Wooyoung and Junho had taken turns crying, and both had their arms around each other, as if trying to find comfort in knowing they were by each other's side.

Channie began to hiccup uncontrollably ... "You know...(hic)...it's like...(hic)... like when we all watched LOST." (hic)

Taecyeon stared him, or attempted to ... but the focus wasn't so good after drinking so much soju. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well you know...(hic)" Channie started elaborating with his hands. "Remember when we all sat here together (hic)."

"Yeah... and so?"

"So... " Channie took another long swig of his soju in attempt to stop his hiccups.

"So... remember... when it ended. And we found out... they... were... all... dead."

Junsu stopped staring at the ceiling and joined Taecyeon in staring at Chansung. Wooyoung and Junsu followed suit.

"What the hell... are you talking about?" repeated Taec.

"Well, maybe..." Channie pointed to each one of them individually. "Maybe this isn't really happening. Maybe it's all like... a nightmare that we are all sharing."

Wooyoung wiped a stray tear from his cheek and asked, "You mean we're all really dead?"

Junho looked at Wooyoung and then back at Channie. "We just don't know we're dead yet."

"Idiots," Taecyeon shook his head at them and attempted to stand, and swayed to and fro before heading down his unsteady path to his dorm room.

"Hyung!" Khun called after him. "Where are you going?"

"Probably back to bed," Wooyoung guessed.

"He's been sleeping way too much lately," Khun observed in his slurred voice. "I think he's got major depression."

Junsu chuckled sarcastically at that. "Of course he does you idiot. We all do!"

They heard the chimes of their automated lock indicate that someone was coming in the front door, and looked up and saw their Manager, Minjae, accompanied by Seulong and an arm full of cold soju.

"HYUNG!" all five cried loudly.

"Round two anyone?" Minjae asked them, sympathetically.

"You're spoiling them," Seulong warned. He glanced around the room and when he noted Taec's absence, he headed back down the hallway.

When he reached the doorway he stopped for a moment to take a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy for anyone in the company. But especially not for the members of 2PM. And more so for Ok Taecyeon. Jay was truly like a brother to Taec, they had bonded in a playful, yet meaningful way.

Taec's back was facing Seulong, as he laid on his bottom bunk bed. Seulong smiled sadly at the long, tall figure, attempting to curl up in a fetal position. He couldn't stand by and watch for another second.

Without a moment's hesitation, Seulong claimed his place, laying behind Taeceyeon, wrapping one arm around him, while propping the other up on his elbow, head in hand, he leaned in closer.

"What am I to do with you, suffering all alone like this?"

Taecyeon attempted to shrug his friend off. He didn't want any company right now.

Seulong tightened his hold on his friend and slowly began to rock him, in unison.

"It's going to be ok, you know?"

Taec merely shook his head in denial. There were no more tears left. All of them had cried, gotten angry, drank themselves silly... but Taec was now withdrawing. It wasn't going to be ok. How could it ever be ok without one of their family members?

"It is going to hurt like hell for awhile," Seulong admitted, "But we are all in this together. And we'll come out of this together."

Again Taecyeon's only response was an attempt to pull away.

"You and I are going on a trip, so get the hell up, and get on your feet." Seulong sounded firmer, less gentle this time around.

"Hyung, leave me alone."

"Not in this lifetime... and probably not in the next either."

"Hyung!"

"Just grab a backpack with some clean underwear, and a change of clothes. That's all you'll need."

It was a few hours later that Taecyeon was de-boarding the small plane that landed on Jeju Island. He had kept his sunglasses on the entire trip, attempting to hide his swollen, bloodshot eyes.

"What are we doing here?" Taec asked angrily. Why Jeju Island of all places? There were so many other options that were much closer to Seoul.

"Shut up and follow me."

And he did.

Seulong had rented a villa that was part of a large resort complex. The villas were separated from the main hotel, and each had a breath taking view of the ocean.

He grabbed Taecyeon's arm, locked his own around it, and held up a plastic bag and grinned.

"More sustenance!"

"We're going to be in trouble when we get back," Taec warned his friend.

"Do you really care about that now?"

He had a point. He didn't care much about anything at the moment.

His friend pulled him out the sliding glass doors that opened up into a broad and wide lawn. As they tread across the soft grass, they could hear the pounding of the waves drawing closer.

At the edge of the lawn, a long wooden railing kept them from proceeding further, and for good reason. The resort and villas were high above the ocean, at the top of a cliff. To the left and right, all they saw were the colorful but jagged edges of sediment rock. The waves crashed up against large black boulders below them.

"Nice place ..." Taecyeon grunted. "Did you bring me here to jump?"

"Yep. But we're going to eat first."

"What?"

"That way you'll weigh more, and fall faster."

Seulong pulled on his partner's arm and they sat on the edge of the lawn.

He began taking out the contents of his bag, offering Taecyeon a cold bottle of soju, while he removed the kimbap and chips.

"I couldn't find any mango slices," Seulong joked.

Mango.

"Don't..." Taec turned to his buddy and leveled his glare, "Don't try and joke about it."

"You're not the only one hurting here. The others are going to need you, little brother. You'll have to be the new leader."

"Like hell!"

"Like it or not..."

"HYUNG! It's too soon, ok? We aren't going to have a fucking leader! And I don't want to talk about eating mango slices without Jay!"

It was an "OneDay" thing between the two groups, 2AM and 2PM. Each time that Taecyeon or Jay went to the States for a break, they brought back bags and bags of fresh mango slices from Costco. They were prized, and members tried to beg, borrow and steal them away!

"I guess I need to call in for reinforcements ..."

He pulled out his cell phone and began texting.

Taecyeon ignored him and looked out at the ocean. A flock of pelicans flew by, directly in front of him, and he silently watched as they soared by. How awesome would that be, he thought, to take flight, and disappear.

Twenty minutes later a pair of footsteps padded across the lawn, and Seulong glanced behind them, and waved to her.

He stood up and gave her a very quick hug and nodded at Taecyeon.

"He's all yours, I've tried everything." And with that, he retreated back into the villa.

She sat next to Taecyeon, who didn't notice, as he was fixated on the waves crashing and pounding against the cliff's rocks.

This is what he felt like... the world had come crashing down around him... pummeling him just when they started to take off, just when they were on the rise.

Yoona did say a word. She just sat there quietly and waited.

Several minutes passed. She then noticed the kimbap and reached down for one.

She began unwrapping it, wondering if she should ask for his permission before helping herself.

But since he hadn't even noticed her presence, she decided against it, and took a rather large bite from the roll.

Seulong had left them alone and went inside to make a decent dinner for them.

A soft, fragrant scent swept past Taecyeon, carried by the sea breeze.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. His hair fell from his face, and he felt the warmth of the sun through his sunglasses.

"I know I've lost it now, hyung... you're even starting to smell like her."

Yoona's replied by pushing her half eaten kimbap roll up to his mouth.

"Eat."

Just one word. And that word jolted Taecyeon out of his funk and his head whipped to the side to face her.

"Yoona?" he couldn't believe his own eyes.

She nodded and gave him a half smile.

"Now eat." She pushed the roll back to his lips, and watched as they slowly parted. When they were opened wide enough, she pushed the roll into his mouth, satisfied as he bit off a large portion.

"Whatareyoudoinghere?" his words munched together as he chewed.

"I just signed a contract with Innisfree, a skin care product. Their base is here on Jeju Island, so..." she shrugged.

"No," he tried to swallow the rice mixture down, "What are you doing HERE?"

She turned to look out into the horizon... the water was deep blue and she saw the white foam of waves cusping.

"I'm sorry about Jay."

He nodded and reached for her hand that still was holding the remainder of the roll, and raised it to his mouth as he took another bite. Suddenly it made sense why Seulong had chosen Jeju.

"Sometimes it helps, just to have someone next to you." she said softly.

He considered her words. And then he followed her gaze out to the horizon as he chewed.

He wanted to raise his voice and scream until he was hoarse, cursing at the gods that let this happen. He wanted to fly to Seattle and kick Jay's ass. He wanted ...

Instinctively he knew exactly what he wanted. But she wasn't his to have.

"So you're my shoulder to cry on?"

She didn't answer him... but he saw her smile out to the ocean and that was enough.

"What is it that they say: Desperate times call for desperate measures?" he asked.

She turned to look at him and he raised his head and faced her... he noticed how her legs were stretched out and crossed in front of her... how she leaned back on her hands and how her short hair danced in the sea breeze.

Without a second thought, he laid his head down into her lap, still facing the ocean.

Yoona was surprised but didn't object to the intimacy.

Just this once, she thought.

"I'm not Ha Jiwon, but I guess I'll do..." Yoona chided him.

"Oh this will do just fine," Taec smiled genuinely now, snuggling his head in her lap.

"Just wait until I tell Khunnie and Channie about this..." he pretended to joke with her.

Several minutes passed between them, and off in the distance a foghorn belched every minute or so. She felt him sigh heavily.

"It's hard now... it hurts now more than ever... but you'll get through this. The only way to get past it and move on is to go through it."

Although she had not experienced the pain of losing a member of the group, she had experienced the pain of losing family. She knew about loss, and when Seulong had told her that he wasn't functioning, just drinking and sleeping, she knew he needed his friends.

He reached behind her, for one of her arms, and flopped her hand on top of his head.

It brought a smile to her face and she ruffled his hair.

"Thanks..." he lowered his voice and folded his arms, drawing comfort from her as she stroked his hair. She didn't know if he was thanking her for coming, or for the closeness they shared now, but it didn't matter.

This is exactly what he needed. If only this moment could last forever, he thought.

Her thoughts raced from Taecyeon back to DongHae. She thought back to the words she heard him confess to her. The way he said he would wait for her response. And the tight hug he gave her when he last saw her.

_DongHae_, she thought.

But here she sat, with her legs crossed, and his head on her lap. Her fingertips kneaded his scalp... and he closed his eyes.

Taecyeon needed her. And in spite of everything that had happened between her and Taec, she felt compelled to help him.

DongHae would understand. Because he's kind, gentle, loving. He's DongHae.

"I saw you on Champagne with Hongki," Taec said, "And I remember thinking, even if it's at the hair salon, why does Lee Hongki get to see Yoona's sleeping face? Life just isn't fair these days."

"Is that why you picked Tiffany as your ideal girl over me the following week on the same show?" she teased.

"Oh you saw that?"

Taecyeon frowned as he recalled NichKhun had picked Yoona twice now as his Ideal Type.

"How does it feel," he wondered aloud, "To be the 'ideal' of so many?"

"It's an illusion."

"What do you mean?"

"I feel like when I hear some say "Im Yoona" is their ideal that they say it because everyone else says it. There's no way they can tell the truth and let the world know who they really like. So it's safe for them to say me."

He thought about that for a while. It made sense... and yet, he knew better. He knew that she had the power to make men fall in love with by merely smiling at them.

In the distance he heard the foghorn blowing, even though it was a perfectly clear day. He opened his eyes to look over at the lighthouse on the nearby cliff's peninsula.

He wanted to ask her about so many things. He wanted to ask her about her 13 oppas, and what they meant to her. He wanted to ask her about her first kiss. He wanted to know what she thought of him. But not now. He knew this wasn't the time.

She has always been honest, and he knew he wouldn't like her answers.

No, not yet.

"I think you're like that lighthouse over there Yoona. The job of that lighthouse is to shine it's light out there for all those ships that might be otherwise lost in the fog without it. And on clear days, like today, you simply shine just as brightly, even without the light on."

When she didn't say anything in response, he knew she doubted him. But only because she doubted herself. One flaw he saw in Yoona was her lack of self confidence.

Several more minutes passed as they both stared out into the spacious ocean.

"Things will never be the same for 2PM..." he admitted regretfully.

"That's right." she agreed.

He closed his eyes again and felt the warmth of having her so close and without intending to, he fell drifted off to sleep.

Yoona looked down at her friend, and his usual chiseled features had softened in his slumber. At some point he had turned over, to lay on his back, giving her full view of his face. He looked peaceful.

"Your sleeping face isn't so bad," she whispered.

An hour had passed, and she could no longer feel the pins and needles that had crept through her legs. The sound of the horn raised over the waves. It was then that his body jerked awake.

He looked up at her, trying to focus.

Was he dreaming?

"Yoona?"

She smiled down at him and attempted to stretch out her toes, hoping to bring some life back into her legs.

He sat up and combed his hands through his hair.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because you needed it."

It was then that he realized that for a short time, he had stopped thinking about Jay Park. He stopped hurting. Even if it was momentary, she was a safe haven for him.

"You've pulled me out of my fog today ..."

She looked over at him and then back at the ocean. It began to turn silver as the descended lower into the horizon.

"I hope I can return the favor someday. I know you don't need another Oppa. But everyone can use another friend, right?"

He heard her tummy growl in response and they both laughed.

"Let's go see what the monkey is cooking up," Taec said as he raised himself up off her lap and reached down and pulled her to her feet as he stood up.

The foghorn bellowed again off in the distance and Taecyeon smiled.

Today wasn't so bad after all.


	20. Chapter 20

"Hyung if you think about it, it will be like "WonderBang" only better!" Taecyeon coaxed.

"That kind of exposure can also backfire," Jin Young Park warned.

"But it can also help us take off!" Taec rallied. He looked earnestly at the other members, pleading them to jump in any time now. After all, they were all for the idea when he told them about it earlier that week!

The maknae was the first to jump onboard: "A collaboration like this will have all of Korea tuning in..."

Taec grinned at Channie, he was the king of overstatement, but that's ok, at least he was trying.

JYP looked out the window of his office and contemplated for a moment. It was then that Taec waved his hands at the others to join in.

"The CF that we did for Elite Uniforms is still all over YouTube, and has hundreds of thousands of views." Khun added. He paused for a moment and then continued.

"Not to mention the warm reception Yoona and I got for our little mini drama a few months ago..." Khun continued.

"Well, yes," Taec cut him off, "But we don't want to be TOO predictable! We can't have the same coupling or it would be boring!"

Khunnie frowned at Taec, "Betrayer," he whispered. One of the reasons he agreed to do this was for another opportunity to share a stage with Yoona. Taec of course knew this, and used it to his advantage.

"It will get everyone's attention off of the recent events," JYP considered, referring to Jay's departure from the group.

Junho chimed in his support, "And it will show everyone that we are still tight as ever as a group, and aren't going anywhere!"

Channie knew if he didn't speak up now, he would lose the chance forever. "I think I should be the one to be partnered with Yoona. When we were on Idol Army, all of the netizens comments talked about how cute we were together!"

JYP snorted and turned his attention to the boys.

"This isn't about Yoona Im. This is about SNSD. Yes, she does seem to be the most popular amongst them. But if we do this, it has to be all of them."

All of them nodded in unison.

"So hyung, you'll consider my proposal? I mean, a dance scene with a story line?" Taec inquired.

"We'll need something original," Jin Young tapped his fingers on his desk top.

"It shouldn't be the most popular or cutest member of 2PM (he looked at Khunnie)... or the best singer (over at Junsu)... or the best dancer (eyeing Wooyoung)..."

"Or the strongest!" Junho smirked, looking at his hyung Taec. Everyone knew that Taec was trying to maneuver a solo with his favorite member of SNSD.

"To tell you the truth, I considered this last month, but with the news of Jay... well, it just didn't seem like good timing." Jin Young revealed.

"I put some feelers out at the time, with Lee Soo-man and he mentioned that the girls are already planning a New Years Eve Special with Super Junior."

Silence.

Taec had to convince him. He felt that this was not just in his best interest, to win Yoona over, but truly it would benefit both SNSD and 2PM, because he knew the two groups had chemistry together from past collaborations.

"Over exposure can be a dangerous gamble," JYP continued. "Soo-man hasn't gotten where he is today without knowing that, so he may reject the offer immediately, which means I will look like a beggar with his hat in his hands."

"What's the saying about 'striking while the iron's hot'?" Taec offered.

"Yeah well I'm not worried about a hot iron as much as I am about an overly heated scandal. It's obvious that you have a thing for those girls... or should I say one in particular?"

Taec felt the blood rush to his ears and knew they were flaming red. Everyone including Jin Young Park knew how he felt about Yoona. He made feeble attempts to keep it a secret, but it was bigger than he was!

"Just promise me that you'll keep it in your pants, and will avoid any type of scandal."

Taec lit up with anticipation and nodded to the President of JYP Entertainment, knowing if he spoke his voice might crack from glee.

"Wait!" Junsu spoke for the first time. "Why don't we make that the theme?"

Everyone turned to face him and could see the wheels churning. Junsu would have made a great PD or Director if he wasn't such a gifted singer. He always thought outside of the box, and often worked on several projects at once. He had business sense with a massive flair of creativity.

"A scandal?" Taec asked.

"Not just a scandal, but a LOVE scandal!"

For the next hour the office went abuzz as Junsu began to explain, and the other members added their ideas as well.

Taecyeon could kiss Junsu. He was brilliant! He owed him dinner, at the very least.

He couldn't wait to tell Yoona about the plan!

His mind wandered back to Jeju, when they were in the villa with Seulong, making crab cakes with shredded, shelled crab and rice flour. She looked adorable with a her hair tied back, her hands covered in flour, and biting on her lower lip as she concentrated on forming perfectly rounded, uniform patties.

He couldn't resist doing the cliche-expected act men could do with woman when she was around flour. He reached up and smeared a streak of flour across her clear, soft cheek and chuckled.

What he didn't expect was to have Seulong come to her rescue, pinning his arms behind him and telling Yoona to have her revenge!

She patted both her hands down into the flour, and then placed then on both sides of his face, splayed across his cheeks.

"Is that the best you can do?" Seulong moaned. "After I have him here at your mercy?"

Yoona quirked her head to the side bringing her palms together, considering his words, when Seulong released one of Taec's arms and pulled up his t-shirt up to his neckline.

"OPPA!" she blushed and giggled at the same time.

Yoona grew up in the entertainment world, so seeing men with bare chests wasn't necessarily unusual, but this was Ok Taecyeon, and quite frankly, not many men she knew were built like him!

"Yah!" objected Taec, his ears turning red at the sight of Yoona openly gawking at him. But he didn't give Seulong much resistance when he saw her face blush. This could be fun!

"Come on, Yoona," Seulong urged, "Don't you owe him some payback?"

She tingled with excitement as she re-floured her hands and looked at the tempting canvas of tight pecs and chocolate abs. Where to begin?

"I dare you!" Taec coaxed her when he saw a moment of doubt flash across her face.

He knew her well enough to know, you don't dare Yoona without expecting results!

She walked up slowly to him with a wicked grin, "Oh you dare me?"

Not only did his ears blaze red, but he immediately felt heat flame from below his lower belly downwards, bringing to life the beginnings of a hard on. The impact she had on him was undeniable.

Her hands tentatively touched his chest, softy, gently, tenderly, as she giggled while spreading the rice flour across his skin. He hardened every muscle in response, and his nipples peaked as she brushed her palms across them.

Taecyeon's eyes darkened lustfully as he felt goosebumps trickle up his arms, down his legs, leaving him with the urge to pull her into a tight embrace.

Seulong felt his friend's biceps harden, and chuckled as he stood behind him, slightly taller, giving him the advantage of seeing the flaming red ears.

He playfully leaned over and blew into one of those bright red ears.

"Hyung!" Taec squirmed for the first time, and leaned closer to Yoona, filling her hands with full contact. She still had no idea what effect she had on him, but he knew she felt the warmth, the sensation of touch. The giggling stopped as she soothed the flour around and over each pec, entranced by the feel of his skin under own her hands. She was discovering what a man's body felt like, for the first time, in awe and wonder.

His body responded, heated, with his heart pounding...

He could barely control himself as he watched her lost in her own discovery of skin on skin.

He elbowed Seulong in the gut who easily released his left arm, taking one of her hands into his, Taec pressed it flat over his heart. Her eyes widened as she felt the racing pulsation.

"Can you feel my heart beat?" his deep voice asked, purposefully playing on the words of their newly released album.

"I can!" she replied, surprised and amazed at the same time.

God she was still so innocent, he thought. Yoona had no idea what she was doing to him.

Enough was enough.

He sighed deeply and removed her hands from his chest, and then pinched her nose.

"We're even." he said to her as he walked out of the kitchen.

"For what?" she asked him, puzzled at why he was leaving.

"For anything and everything. I'm going to wash to wash up."

Seulong and Yoona finished up the crab cakes together and Seulong fried them while Yoona set up the table.

Removing his t-shirt, Taec rinsed his face with the cold water and brushed off the flour with a wet towel. He closed his eyes briefly as he touched his chest, remembering her fingertips and soft palms caressing him, without even understanding how much she made him want her more and more.

"Yoona Im, you're going to get me in trouble."

He knew she was constantly surrounded by her 'oppaduel' or band of oppas, from her own company and others in the industry. Taec even acknowledged that she has special relationships with them, since she grew up with many of them.

He just couldn't understand how she was still so oblivious of her womanhood. Her curiosity almost sent him over the edge. How come those 'brothers' and friends of hers didn't teach her about this?

"What am I saying?" he thought to himself. He was glad they hadn't tried to educate her in the ways of men, because he wanted to be able to do that. He wanted to protect her.

Now it all kind of made sense how protective those SuJu brothers are over her, he reasoned. She hangs out with them, dances with them, eats with them, plays with them, hugs them... but he doubted she ever touched any of them, as a man.

She will still a youngling in so many ways.

"Let me protect you, Yoona." he whispered to himself. Even though she already had dozens of oppas, he wanted to be different. He wanted to stay by her side. He pushed out the thought of wanting her as his woman, because he knew it was too early for that.

When he returned, Seulong and Yoona were sitting at the table deep in conversation, about what seemed to be... the birds and the bees?

"Seriously," Yoona continued, "When you think about it, the male species has the advantage in almost every case. They're stronger, bigger, and always more colorful or flamboyant."

"But that also is a disadvantage when it comes to other males," Seulong defended, "Because they have to fight over who has the bigger horns, or brighter, prettier feathers, and constantly have to win over the female just in order to reproduce."

"What are you talking about?" Taecyeon asked. "I leave the room for a minute..."

"But consider this," Yoona countered, "The human male releases about 200-300 sperm each time he ejaculates. Whereas the female releases one egg each month! How is that fair?"

Seulong looked over at Taecyeon, eyes wide open, both males at a complete loss on how to respond to her last comment.

"Seriously it's kind of depressing when you think about it. One egg per month. That's 52 eggs a year. And worse, the child bearing years are limited. But if you do the math for males, 300 sperm with each ejaculation. That could be thousands just in one day alone!"

The two young men's eyes grew larger before they both burst into laughter.

Seulong doubled over laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" She asked confused. "Its true. And how is that fair? That could be 100's of thousands each month, millions each year. And it only takes one of those millions to fertilize the egg..."

The more she tried to explain the harder they laughed.

She placed her hands on her hips and stomped her foot down.

"The point is, that in his lifetime a male has a bazillion chances to pro-create, even as a grandfather he still has living sperm, whereas a woman..."

Taecyeon couldn't resist. He walked up to her and hugged her and he continued to chuckle at her expense.

"If it bothers you that much Yoong, just let me know and when you're ready, I'll help out in any way I can."

"You're missing my point," she pouted, and tried to shrug him off, not understanding how come they couldn't get what she was trying to explain.

"No, Yoong," he patted her back and gave her a squeeze, "Believe me, we get your point. I think you're the one that doesn't get it."


	21. Chapter 21

Yoona knew her Super Junior oppas were practicing at the SM building. They had kicked off their Super Show 2 in Korea in July, and just returned from Hong Kong in September. Next they were scheduled for Shanghai this month, and Bangkok in November. Then on to China in December and January.

Donghae was right. Their schedules were bound to keep them apart, even if they had wanted to spend time together. If they were to become a couple, it would require a long distance relationship during much of their time together.

She watched them as they ran through a rehearsal of the choreography for "Don't Don" and chuckled as Heechul Oppa lingered in the back of the room, getting away with barely dancing, if you could call it that.

He was a born rebel, and forever would remain a rebel.

The tap on her shoulder caused her to jump, and she swung around to face Kyuhyun's beaming face.

"Spying on us now, Weirdo?"

Yoona shrugged and turned back to peer in the window on the door, her eyes seeking out Donghae.

"I just wanted to see what time you guys are going to be done."

Kyuhyun looked down at his cell phone he was carrying. He had stepped out to take an important call from Boa.

"What are you doing tonight?"

That was an odd question coming from Kyuhyun. If it were Teukkie or Donghae, or even Yesung, she would've expected it.

"I'm not sure," Yoona said tentatively, "What makes you ask?"

He waved his cell phone at her and smiled. "What if I told you that we have a mission to complete?"

"A mission?"

He nodded and leaned against the wall, folding his arms, feeling pleased with himself.

"What kind of mission?" she asked.

"The kind where you get to help out your Oppa."

She scrunched her face at him. Kyuhyun was a prankster. They'd often played tricks on each other before, so this could easily be a ploy or a joke.

"I think I'll pass," Yoona decided.

He leaned closer to her, and whispered, "Even if it involves BBQ and beer?"

Her eyes grew larger and a sly smile crossed her lips. Kyuhyun learned several years ago that Yoona would sneak sips when her oppas brought drinks to the building or used the SM Building's karaoke room.

"Keep talking," she said as she watched Donghae and Hyukjae dance together.

"Boa is having a small gathering at her apartment tonight," Kyu started, watching Yoona closely as her eyes sparkled with anticipation. "Yunho and Changmin will be there. Boa asked for you, Qian and I to come too."

Yoona took a step back and considered what Kyuhyun had just told her.

"Kyu," she began, "I don't think so."

"Why not?" he asked her, but secretly understood her hesitation. His best friend, Changmin, and Yoona used to be inseparable. There were times whenever you would see one, the other was soon to follow around the corner, or glued side by side.

"Yoona, he's still your friend isn't he?"

She nodded slowly, and sighed. "He will always be my friend, Kyu, that's not what I mean."

"Ever since this mess with the lawsuit, he's a wreck. He won't even play games with me!"

Before Yoona could pipe a word in edge-wise, he continued, "Look, I know that sounds stupid, but he loves playing videos games with me! We would always chat via webcam, or go online together when he was in Japan, but it's like he's shutting down now."

She watched the concern on her friend's face as he spoke.

"It's not just Changmin either. Yunho has become a machine. He won't get mad, he won't cry, he won't laugh. Everything he does now is mechanical... Boa noona says they need to be able to let loose. She said if we are there for them, they'll get through this ..."

Everyone in SM Entertainment had heard about the secret parent meeting back in June, and the subsequent lawsuit that was filed by Junsu, Jaejooong and Micky. Everyone knew how netizen 'fans' attacked Changmin and Yunho for not joining them in the lawsuit. It had divided up friendships, even within Super Junior there was discord when the topic came up. So most of the time, they avoided talking about it.

"You'll come?" Kyuhyun asked her again.

Yoona looked back into the practice room and watched as Donghae finally saw her standing at the door and waved at her. He broke into a smile that literally went from ear to ear.

"You should be the one to tell Donghae oppa," Yoona told Kyuhyun while she waved back to Hae.

"Are you kidding me? Tell him you're going to spend the night with me and not him?"

"Do you want me to go or not?" she tried to stifle a smile.

"Yeah but... have you seen Donghae when he's jealous?"

"Don't be silly. We aren't dating ..." she paused and then smiled, "_yet,_" her thoughts added.

"Ok," he agreed, "I'll do it for Changmin. But, if he looks like he's going to kill me, you need to step in!"

"Pabo," Yoona smacked his shoulder, "Donghae isn't even the jealous type. You're being silly."

Kyuhyun's eyes popped wide open, "Are we talking about same Lee Donghae? Do you even remember what happened when he found out when a certain actor, who will remain nameless, asked you for your cellphone number after the drama ended? Remember how he wanted to call the actor's agency because he was 6 years older?"

"Well that's because I was 16..."

"You're the pabo, if you believe that! Anyways, it's a deal. I'll tell Donghae, and you come with me tonight."

Later that night Yoona began to wonder if she had made the right decision, when Boa unnie had told her it was fine for her to drink beer, since she would be staying over anyways.

But once the three of them were together, it was like old times again!

"Am I really like an elementary school girl?" she asked Kyuhyun, her eyes nearly pouting as she looked into his.

Before Kyuhyun could answer, Changmin interrupted, "No, you're more like an elementary school BOY."

The small fist swung into his arm before he had a chance to move.

"Yah!" she shouted in mock anger.

"See!" Minnie pointed his finger at her, "You just proved my point!"

Yoona grabbed his index finger that he was pointing at her, and attempted to bring it to her mouth to bite it, but Kyuhyun circumvented the action by placing his hand on top of both of theirs.

"I have something better to put in that alligator mouth of yours," he grinned sideways at her as he raised a choco Pocky stick above her face with is free hand. "Now say Ahhh," he teased.

She giggled as she stretched her neck and snapped at the Pocky stick.

He pushed his weight down on their clasped hands until they broke apart and simultaneously dangled the Pocky at her, grinning from ear to ear.

"I said say Ahhh!"

Yoona turned away from Kyu and faced Changmin, "Keep your stingy Pocky, I can get my own."

A wicked grin flash across Changmin's face and he reached for the bowl of Pocky and placed one in between his teeth and waggled it up and down, his eyebrows following suit. The invitation was comically obvious and Yoong burst out laughing at his absurd teasing.

"And you call me a boy! Now who's acting like a kid!"

"Stop trying to steal my muse," Kyuhyun reached over and karate-chopped Changmin's Pocky stick in half.

He then grabbed a handful of Pocky and placed one behind each ear, one is his mouth, one in an open button hole on his chest, and two into the waist of his pants just above his fly.

"I dare you!" he mumbled while trying to hold on to the cracker stick in his mouth.

Both Yoona and Changmin burst out laughing. She threw her head back, and Changmin clapped his hands together at the sight of Kyuhyun!

"Its POCKY MAN!" she exclaimed!

The words caught the others attention and Yunho pointed at Kyuhyun. "Yah YOU! What are you doing over there, you pervert!"

"You're not getting off that easy," Changmin warned him before diving toward him and claiming the Pocky stick in his mouth with a crunch.

Boa called over, "Yoona if you don't get the rest, Changmin will eat up all those prizes!"

Kyuhyun laughed at Changmin's effort and pushed him away, chewing on the remainder of the stick in his mouth. "Yah, that's not for you!"

Boa smiled at the pair and shook his head, looking back at Yunho, "Oh, the carefree life of those maknae."

"It's good to see him smile again," Yunho admitted quietly, watching Changmin tackle his best best friend as Yoona pelted Pocky at them. "I think it's been months now since he's laughed. He barely speaks to them now. You know we changed rooms back in July. He refused to sleep in the same room as Junsu anymore. Not like it really matter since those three stopped sleeping in the dorm anyways. It's been really hard on him."

"And you too," Boa rubbed Yunho's shoulder with one hand and clinked his empty glass with her own.

DBSK was hanging together by a thread. Although they still performed here and there in Japan, their relationship had become very strained since JYJ filed the lawsuit.

"Refill time!" he nodded at the cans of Japanese Saporro beer. Boa reached over and snapped one open and poured it into Yoona's empty glass, winking at her.

"To better times ahead!" she offered and raised the can in a toast to Yunho.

Qian returned from the bathroom in time to witness the boys still wrestling and placed her hands on her hips as she came to stand above them.

"Yoona are you going to let them have all the fun?"

Yoona shrugged and turned to reach for another snack from the food table, "Unnie, they're proving a point on who acts the most immature, me or them."

Before she could place the chips into her mouth a free hand reached up from the floor and pulled her down on top of them. As Changmin wrapped his leg around her, imprisoning her, sandwiched between Kyuhyun and himself, he teased her saying, "They claim girls mature faster than boys, Yoong, but seriously, whoever said that doesn't know YOU."

Qian shook her head, squatted down and began picking Pocky off the three entwined bodies.

"And everyone says YOU'RE supposed to be the mature one, Minnie!"

The rough housing quickly took it's toll on Yoona's young stomach. She was accustomed to only very small amounts of soju, so the beer had a completely different effect of her. She felt an oncoming wave of nausea. As her hand clapped over her mouth, Kyu took immediate notice and quickly sat up, pulling her up with him.

"Yah Yoong, don't you dare vomit here!"

Changmin merely chuckled at her, "See, elementary kid that can't hold her liquor!"

The sick quickly erupted into her throat, and she gagged. She attempted to swallow it back down, but it only made her gag harder.

Realizing she wasn't playing any longer, Changmin sat up on the opposite side of her and rubbed her back, "You should go to the bath..."

His words were interrupted by another violent gag. He didn't wait another second before scooping her up into his arms, nearly stumbling as he stood and tried to sprint down the hall to the nearest restroom that Qian had just vacated moments ago.

"Geez you're heavier than you used to be," he struggled.

They had just crossed the threshold when the final wave of sick bursted from her throat and into her mouth, and although she had her mouth covered it spurted out between her fingers onto Changmin's chest.

He froze. The warm goo soaked through his shirt, pasting it to his skin.

"Oh Yoona, we almost made it too!"

He walked over to the toilet, gently lowering her. As she cradled her arms around the porcelain tank, he walked over to the door and closed it, locking the two of them inside. He knew she would not want to be seen by anyone.

He knelt next to her and rubbed her back with one hand and twisted her hair softly around his fist with the other, preventing it from dangling.

"_Better out than in, I always say_" he whispered to her softly, recalling Hagrid's words from their favorite author, JK Rowling, taking them both back to days long ago, when they would watch Harry Potter movies together, with Gryffindor scarves and makeshift wands.

She attempted to push him away, behind her, as the waves flushed out the sick from her stomach into the toilet bowl.

"Don't watch," she managed to croak out in between gags.

She always tried to be stronger than she really was, even now, after all these years, he reflected.

Yoona, two years his junior, was one of his best friends back in their training years. They both had entered the company in 2001, she was eleven and he was thirteen. They were very active pre-adolescents, rambunctious, always laughing and playing during their breaks, constantly pranking each other as well as their sunbae.

Her skin was darker back then, he recalled as he looked down at her thin arms holding on to the toilet for dear life. They both played out in the sun a lot, so both were darker.

The gagging and nausea began to subside as he continued rubbing her back. He stopped momentarily, so he could reach for the roll of toilet paper and offer it to her to wipe her mouth clean.

Her face glistened with perspiration.

"Are you feeling ok now? Should I take you home?"

She shook her head and sat down, leaning her back against the cool and refreshing marble wall.

He reached for one of her hands and placed it in the palm of his own. He spread her fingers apart aligning them with his own. Then he raised their hands high so she could see how much smaller her hand was compared to his own. Her palm couldn't even come close to covering his.

"You've got long fingers for a girl, Yoong. But they are still so much smaller than mine."

"Sorry about your shirt, Oppa," she looked at his chest apologetically.

Typical Yoong, he thought. Always worried about someone else, never herself.

He shook his head and pointed back to their hands.

"Do you know why my hand is so much bigger than yours?"

"Because you're a freak."

He chuckled and shook his finger at her.

"When we were kids I used to wonder how your arms and legs got so long. You were the tallest girl in the company. You were taller than your noonas."

"I still am," she smiled at him and attempted to pull her hand back down.

He realized she was probably uncomfortable, since it had been so long since he held hands with her. Maybe it was because he had just watched her throw up, but he hesitated in letting her hand go. Her eyes were still just as clear and shiny as they'd ever been.

He enclosed his fingers around hers and gave her hand a warm squeeze.

"My arms are longer and my hands are bigger so I can protect you."

She blinked at his suddenly serious tone.

"Oppa..." she said softly, touched by the intimacy of his words.

When he was thirteen, he worried for because she didn't seem to know she was a girl. When he was sixteen he worried because because even though she acted like a tomboy, she was blossoming into a pretty young woman. He knew she had a crush on him back then, and it only made her more adorable.

By the time she was eighteen, he rarely saw her anymore.

Today he found himself wondering who was there to protect her now? How had she made it this far, being such a soft-hearted and innocent girl?

He immediately blushed at his own unexpected confession and cleared his throat.

"Well... you know what I mean. You're my dongseng afterall."

Just as quickly as her heart skipped a beat when he mentioned protecting her, it sank into her empty stomach when she realized he wasn't confessing, but rather confirming her status as one of his favorite dongsengs.

A sister. A friend.

And she admitted to herself, it was wonderfully fortunate to be this close to Shim Changmin, her friend of nearly a decade.

"Lucky." she smiled, "Lucky friends."

Kyuhyun and Qian were leaning on the other side of the bathroom door, trying to eavesdrop to ensure Yoona was ok.

"What did they say?" Qian asked, moving her hair around her ear and placing it back against the door.

"Ducky friends." Kyuhyun whispered back.

"What?" Qian raised her ear off of the door, dumbfounded by his words.

"Ducky friends," Kyu repeated. His eyes suddenly popped open as wide as they could possibly go.

"Oh my god," he clapped his hand over his mouth and then grabbed onto Qian's shoulders.

"What?" she whispered back to him, trying to comprehend his meaning.

"Ducky friends... you mean they used to bathe together when they were trainees?"

She rolled her eyes at the grown man that still acted as a teen, and flicked his forehead.

"PABO!"

He rubbed his forehead, watching in horror as Qian raised her hand again, but this time as he ducked, she rapped on to the door.

"Yoona, are you ok?" she called out.

Changmin and Yoona broke apart, she scurried to her feet and turned the tap on, to rinse her mouth and Changmin began to unbutton the cotton shirt.

"Yes Unnie, I'm fine, thanks." She leaned into the sink and continued to rinse.

"Let me know if you need anything."

"A shirt," Changmin called out.

Yoona raised up with her mouth full of water to glare at him, for telling the world that she threw up on him when she saw he was naked from the waist up, examining his soiled shirt.

She spit the water out onto the mirror, shocked that he felt comfortable enough around her to strip off his shirt.

After all, even though they were very close when they were adolescents, he was now a man, and from the looks of his bare, broad chest, rippled stomach and arms, she could see how manly he had become!

Changmin's head snapped up at her spraying water, and he tilted his head to one side, and gave her a fiery glare. She responded by pointed to his bare chested reflection in the water-spotted mirror and she silently mouthed words, "Do you wanna die?"

Kyuhyun eyes got even larger than they had before at the 'ducky friends' comment.

"A SHIRT?" he called out.

He reached for the doorknob, only to find it locked.

"YAH SHIM CHANGMIN, OPEN THIS DOOR NOW!"

Yoona turned from left to right, front to back, scrambling around for something, anything to cover up the half naked friend in front of her.

She reached for a towel and threw it at him, hitting him in the face. Then rolled up massive amounts of toilet paper around her palm, so she could dry off the mirror.

"Sorry Unnie," she whispered her apologies to Boa for messing up the bathroom.

"Noisy as usual, Kyu," Changmin reached for the door only to have his hand swatted violently away by Yoona.

She thrust her finger into his shoulder, "Cover yourself," she mouthed out to him, in a very low but extremely urgent voice.

"Why? It's just Qian and Kyu." Changmin said in his melodic, teasing, baritone voice.

She snatched the soiled shirt from his hand and ran it under the water, rinsing the sick from it.

"Oppa and Unnie, can we get some ice please? I just got sick and it would help."

"No problem Yoona, be right back." Qian grabbed Kyu's hand and they walked down the hall, Kyu following reluctantly behind her.

"A shirt?" he pondered again, "You don't think they're in there doing anything naughty..."

"This is what happens when you watch too much porn," Qian jested as she pulled him away, "Letting your imagination run wild."

"Why ice?" Changmin asked her as he watched her scrub at the stained shirt with hand soap.

"Because it helps get out stains."

"But you've gotten my shirt all wet now, what am I supposed to do? I am sure Yunho hyung has an extra in his bag. He always carries one."

"And let the everyone know that I threw up on the almighty SHIM CHANGMIN? No way!"

"Yoong," he started.

"NO!" she stated fervently. "I'll wash this out and we can use Unnie's blow dryer to dry it."

"We'll be here all night," he tried to reason with her.

"Then you'll wear it damp!" she pleaded.

"I don't want to." he smiled at her, realizing this wasn't about the shirt at all.

He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind, which only caused her to drop her head in embarrassment.

"I'm not child," she said softly.

"No, you're not. But you're not legally an adult yet either."

He nuzzled his chin gently on top of her head looking at their reflection in the newly cleaned mirror.

"I'm almost an adult," she said full of promise, trying to convince herself as much as she was him. For some reason it was very important to her that he not think of her as a choding any longer. She had grown up.

"You've become a beautiful young woman," he conceded. "The entirety of Asia knows who you are. You've got millions of admirers..."

Her head quickly raised up and she met his eyes in the mirror. He was smiling at her with those uneven eyes of his, and his large lips parting, showing his pearly whites. They didn't call him Prince Changmin, Charisma God for nothing. It infuriated her that her heart still swooned just as it did when she was 14 years old, and worked with him and DBSK in their Magic Castle music video.

"And you're not really my Oppa," she said to him, a bit too harshly.

"What?" Changmin asked her, feeling wounded by her words.

"We aren't brother and sister."

He raised his chin from her head but tightened his hold on her.

"You're half naked, Changmin, and you're holding a girl who isn't really your sister."

The smile dropped from his face and immediately his eyes darkened.

"Don't, Yoona," he warned her.

"Are you saying you see me as a woman now, Changmin? Or are we going to just pretend to be kids still?"

There it was.

She finally confronted him.

After all these years of beating around the bush, of horseplay, of long distance calls, and texts. Eight long years of on-again, off-again contact. Yet whenever he came back, it was as if he had never left.

They had always been so ambiguous, never questioning before.

But tonight it bothered her.

He had called her a kid. He had told her he would protect her, but as a 'little sister'.

Perhaps she wasn't special to him at all.

But she had to know. Too many years of innuendo.

Before he could answer her, the door rapped loudly, causing them both to jump.

In a split second he made a fateful decision. He patted her head, and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "There, there, Yoona, everything will be fine. Trust me."

He reached for the door and before she could stop him he swung it open, without attempting to cover himself in any form or fashion, dropping the pre-offered towel to the ground.

Kyuhyun and and Qian gawked openly at the sight.

"I've got a weak stomach," Changmin explained, "I threw up on myself... I guess can't watch other people throw up." He shrugged, and took the bag of ice from Kyu's hands and whispered softly to Qian. "Can you please go ask Yunho Hyung for his spare shirt, if we leave it to Pavarotti here, he will announce to the world that I'm a weakling."

"Yah!" Kyu finally mustered, and thrust his finger into his best friend's bare chest, "Cover yourself up! How can Yoona's innocent eyes 'un-see' this!"

Changmin grinned wickedly back at him, "Are you jealous, Kyu?"

When Kyuhyun rolled his eyes, Min leaned in to whisper to his friend this time, "Are you jealous for Yoona or are you jealous for me?"

Yoona heard and couldn't help but chuckle at the wise crack. The tension and heat she had felt earlier had dissipated, as they resumed their comfortable roles again.

Qian came to her rescue as she pushed the boys apart, and placed the wet shirt into Changmin's capable hands. "We'll see you two lovebirds out there when you work things out." And both she and Yoona walked back into the living room.

When they entered the living room, the lights had been dimmed and old home videos were glowing from the large 57" LCD TV. Footage from the golden days... everyone was so much younger.

Those images were the last thing that Yoona remembered before hearing the soft "Tell Me Your Wish" singing to her from far away. As the refrain continued, she vaguely felt a warmth pressed up against her face, and a very heavy weight over her legs. The song repeated, and the weight felt heavier as the lyrics became clearer.

Something in her subconscious told her that it was her cell phone ringing and she attempted to reach for it when she realized her arm was pinned down by an equally heavy weight as her legs. She turned, slightly repositioning herself when she attempted to peel her eyes open and noticed she was snuggled up against a broad, male back. And to make matters worse, she realized she was sandwiched, and couldn't see who was pinning her down from behind.

She pushed mightily at the arm, only to have it lowered around her waist, and spoon her closer. She reached into her jeans pocket for the phone.

"Hello," came her raspy whisper, without opening her eyes. She was certain is was Yuri, asking why she she wasn't home.

"Good morning, Sunshine!" a husky, deep male voice resonated into her ear.

That deep, definitive voice.

"Oppa..." she responded softly, trying to dislodge the cobwebs from her brain, as well as dislodge the herself from the human trap that had her pinned down.

"Too heavy..." she said, still half asleep, trying to raise her leg up, to push the much longer, much stronger leg off of her.

"What?" Taecyeon asked her confused. "Did I wake you up?"

"Mmm" Yoona yawned, still unable comprehend why she was being snuggled.

"You've got such a sexy voice in the morning, Yoona."

"I want spaghetti," was all she mustered.

He chuckled.

She really did sound so sexy in the morning. Her raspy voice was deeper than usual, and it aroused him. He also realized that she was nearly asleep on the phone, and probably wouldn't remember a word he said.

"Too noisy," a male voice said aloud from behind Yoona and he tightened his leg that was on top of her. "Too early."

"Yoona?" Taecyeon asked, alarmed at the muffled voice he heard. Definitely male. It was 6:00 in the morning. Who would be with her at this hour while she was asleep?

"Yoona, where are you?"

It was the demanding urgency in his voice that finally washed over her, like cold water, splashing her awake.

"Taecyeon Oppa?" she stuttered and turned her head to see Changmin embracing her in his sleep, with Kyuhyun sleeping in front of her.

"Are you ok?" he asked her again. "Who's voice was that? Where are you?"

Yoona's eyes squinted open... she looked around the room. Where was she?

Their heads were against a sofa, where Qian unnie slept, with her arm draped over the edge.

Boa unnie and Yunho Oppa were no where in sight.

"Who's there with you?" Taecyeon asked, trying to remain calm, but this wasn't working out as he had planned.

He had called to surprise her, with the news of their New Years Eve performance. But he was the one that ended up surprised.

"Oppa," Yoona whispered urgently in to the phone, "I'm at Boa Unnie's ..."

"Too Noisy!" exclaimed Kyuhyun loudly, and he waved at her without moving any other part of his body, keeping his eyes closed.

"That's definitely a man's voice," Taec exclaimed.

Before she could say anything else, the phone was snatched from her hands and closed shut.

Changmin tucked it into his own jean's pocket, and snuggled his face into her hair.

"Too early. Come back to sleep, Yoong," he mumbled with his eyes closed.

He never saw the shocked expression on her face as she reached up and clapped her mouth closed to keep from screaming out loud.

What the hell happened last night?


	22. Chapter 22

Yoona chewed on her bottom lip. She felt frustrated. She felt unsatisfied. She felt hungry! Well, that last one wasn't anything new: it was a constant with her. But the frustration and dissatisfaction were real.

It was ironic, considering the fact that she was sitting next to DongHae, who looked more nervous than she had ever seen before. She glanced at his sideburn and noted how it glistened from the trail of sweat that dropped down from his forehead, against his hairline.

She needed to do something ... quickly. He looked like he was about to pass out.

"Daddy," she looked across the dining room table, at the cause of DongHae's shattered nerves, "You've known him for ages now, so stop being so mean."

Mr. Im folded his arms across his chest, determined not to change his mind. Not even for his precious daughter. Yes, he know Donghae Lee very well, but that was before, when he was just her 'sunbae.'

"It doesn't make sense," her father said, "You'll ruin your careers if it gets out."

DongHae flattened his palms against his thighs and rubbed downward, drying the perspiration off.

"Sir," he began again, "I promise that will not happen." He bowed his head again, for the dozenth time.

"How can you make such a reckless promise!"

"Daddy..." Yoona began, but was immediately interrupted by her father.

"You!" he looked over to her, "You're too young to date!"

Yoona loved her father unconditionally.

He was usually so caring, loving and gentle with her. He spoiled her, and she knew she was the apple of his eye.

But he was strict.

And he was traditional.

When DongHae asked her if she had given any thought to his confession, the only answer she could give him was the truth, "You'll have to ask Dad. If he says ok, then I'd love to date you, Oppa!"

"Sir," DongHae made a new attempt, "I have known Yoona for 8 years now. I have grown to love her very deeply. I know she's young. I know I'm lacking. I know you have every right to say no, but I beg that you will reconsider. I've loved her for so long, that I feel like if I can't tell her that every day, then I won't be living an honest life."

"Selfish reason." the older man's eyes bore into the younger man's with deep intensity.

"Yes," DongHae admitted, "It's selfish."

He paused and looked over at Yoona who smiled gently at him. Her eyes were filled with apology, but her soft smile cheered him on.

"I am selfish. But because I love Yoona so much," he returned her smile with his own, "I promise you that I will never do anything to hurt her. I can confidently say that her life, her career, her needs will always be put before my own. I just want to make her happy."

Mr. Im reached for the cup of tea and swallowed. The young man was polite. He was honest and earnest. But Yoona was much too young to start dating. Her career was just starting to really take off, having three dramas under her belt now, and being the center of SNSD.

"Why can't you just be satisfied with how things are now?"

"Daddy," Yoona spoke up. She reached down for one of DongHae's hands and placed it on the table and then covered it with her own. "I want to be able to hold hands with Oppa. I want to go to the movies. I want..." her voice broke, and tears appeared instantly from nowhere.

She swallowed.

"I want... I want to try and have a normal life sometimes too!"

"You're only 19 years old. You have plenty of time for that sort of thing later!"

"Daddy, I'm not asking if we can get married. We just want to date... please."

His resolve weakened at the whispered "please".

She never asked him for much of anything. She had always been the one to give. She gave and gave and never stopped, just because that's the kind of faithful daughter she was.

But if he allowed this... if he gave his blessing, they could easily be found out by their company and by the annoying bloodthirsty paparazzi. And for what? She had worked so many years for what she had... and he didn't want to see her throw it all away.

"You say you love her?" he looked back at DongHae who nodded in agreement.

"Yes sir!"

"Then you will do what's right."

"Yes sir."

"You will talk to Lee Soo Man, and get his permission before I grant mine."

Yoona's eyes widened in surprise, but DongHae did not even hesitate for a moment.

"Yes sir!"

"And if he says it's ok, then I'll think about it."

"Yes sir!"

"You remember your own words, boy. If you ever hurt her..."

"No sir! Never!" DongHae bowed again and again as he knelt at the low table.

Yoona smiled just as her stomach grumbled loudly.

"Aigoooo," her father breathed heavily, "Go make us something to eat already Yoona, we're all going to starve to death here."

She nearly giggled as she leaped up from her spot, and quickly padded over to give the number #1 man in her life a huge tight hug.

"You're the best daddy in the entire world!"

"I haven't said yes!" he pretended to pull away from her embrace but secretly he loved every second.

"I know, I know..." And with that Yoona skipped into the kitchen to begin the rice and kalbi. She called back over her shoulder, "Oppa, don't just sit there, come help!"

"He's not a woman!" her father called out, "And I'm not done with him yet."

"Dadddddyyyyyy..." she whined as she popped her head back around the corner.

"This girl!" he sputtered. "Hurry up Yoona! I'm going to faint from hunger here!"

She gave in, with a pout, and slowly headed into the kitchen.

"She's my princess." her father looked directly into DongHae's eyes. "You must always make sure she stays just as pure as she is right now. If you ever disrespect her, or manhandle her..."

DongHae lowered his head and when he raised it again, his eyes brimmed with tears.

"Sir, I would never even think of it. I only want to protect her, and stay by her side as much as I can. She's my most precious person."

The boy definitely loved her. There was no doubt in Mr. Im's mind. But still... even good intentions meet bad odds at times.

"Just remember, each night you bring her home, you return her to the dorm or home in even better condition than you found her. She must always return home smiling, never sad."

"Yes sir."

"And..." her father cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "You... whatever you do to Yoona, just remember, I get to do it to you. So you better consider that before you lay your hands on her!"

In the kitchen Yoona ran the cold water over the rice and swished it around, rinsing it.

She couldn't believe how easily DongHae had agreed when she told him to come and ask her father if they could date! Boy, was she ever a lucky girl to have an Oppa as great as DongHae!

All of her Oppas were awesome, but DongHae... DongHae wanted to be hers alone! She giggled at the prospect of the two of them dating as boyfriend and girlfriend!

Yes, she was doing the right thing, she told herself for the umpteenth time since morning. DongHae loved her. He LOVED her.

She needed to let go of fantasies that would never become reality.

Suddenly the memory of waking up in Changmin's arms flooded over her, and she instinctively touched her wet hand up to her cheek, attempting to cool it down.

Yoona began to review the previous night's events, and her brows knitted together.

"Are you crazy?" Yoona scolded herself silently.

She mentally backtracked the previous evening's events that lead up to ... sleeping sandwiched between Kyuhyun and Changmin.

They were watching the old videos of their trainee days, laughing, and making fun of each other, and Kyuhyun was the first to knock out, smiling happily from the after effects of drinking his favorite red wine.

"You both have practice tomorrow," Changmin nudged her elbow and slouched back on a large cushioned pillow, "Let him sleep for awhile."

Qian wrapped her long legs with a blanket and stretched out on the couch, as she laid down, her head directly above Kyuhyun's. She reached down and gently pulled up his blanket up over his shoulders, as he laid on his side, facing away from Yoona.

"No one would know how evil this boy can be by looking at this angelic face now," Qian joked.

Yoona nodded in agreement and added, "I bet Changmin looks just as deceptively innocent when he's sleeping too."

"I'm right here Yoona," he smirked, as he nestled more snuggly into the pillow.

"I know," she looked over her shoulder, "but in case you hadn't noticed, I'm ignoring you."

"It's not ignoring if you tell me about it in advance!" he protested.

"Says you," she said with a straight face and turned to Qian.

BoA walked back into the living room with a small stack of blankets. She peeked into the kitchen and verified that Yunho was attempting to gather up the beer cans, wine and soju bottles.

"Yoona, I have three bedrooms here, so you're welcome to use one of the two guest rooms, or you can camp out here with everyone."

"Unnie, since we need to leave early, I'll take one of the rooms, so I don't disturb everyone."

That wasn't the only reason. Yoona was two years younger than Kyuhyun and Changmin, and technically wasn't even legal drinking age yet. But that hadn't stopped her from enjoying a bottle of soju and a can of Saporro beer. And she was still enjoying the buzz. She knew her judgment would be impaired if she stayed next to him.

Changmin turned on to his side, facing Yoona, and grinned, while his eyes flashed at her.

"I wonder what the real reason is that you don't want to stay here? Are you afraid that your boyish charms will tempt me?"

BoA tossed a blanket over at Changmin and another at Yoona heading to the kitchen, "You two never stop do you? One of these days..."

"Drinking has turned you deaf, Changmin. I told you I'm ignoring you, so stop talking to me."

Qian smiled at her two friends. BoA was right. They were always like this, ever since she could remember.

"Then again, you might eat me while I'm sleeping." Changmin teased again.

"Is that a fly buzzing around, Qian?"

He reached down and covered his legs with the blanket that BoA had given him and yawned.

Qian knew that even though she was great friends with these two, this conversation didn't include her. She closed her own eyes, succumbing to drowsiness.

"Aren't you going to tell me why you're ignoring me?" he yawned again. "Don't you think you at least owe me a reason?"

"Because you're a stupid-head." she didn't hesitate.

He chuckled and rose up one of his legs to cover Yoona's. "Why am I a _stupid-head_?"

"Don't act like you don't know," she pushed the leg off of her and made to get up.

He reached for her wrist and held it for a few seconds before releasing it.

"Don't leave," he pulled her back with his softly spoken words.

She glanced over at him, and saw the seriousness in his eyes.

Something in that look reminded her of why Kyuhyun had asked her to come in the first place… DBSK was self-destructing. The mighty DBSK, was falling apart.

Several minutes passed between them and she could hear the rustling of Yunho and BoA tiding up the kitchen and speaking in lowered voices. Above her and next to her, both Kyuhyun and Qian slept peacefully.

"If you want to talk, I'll stay. But I won't sleep here with you." Yoona negotiated.

"I feel better when you're next to me," he said more seriously than he meant to sound.

"Changmin," Yoona started. Where were the words, now that she had his full attention?

She folded her legs, crossing them under her and took a deep breath. She didn't look at him when she spoke; she focused in on the TV pixels instead.

"In the bathroom ... I don't know what that was, but... whatever it was, it can't happen. I have someone who wants to be with me now."

He listened and nudged his leg against hers. "Everyone wants you, Yoong."

"You're not listening. He really has taken care of me while you've been gone. These past four years while you've been living in Japan, popping back here once a month or so, then disappearing again, he's been watching over me."

His hand reached over and he carefully placed it around her waist.

"I know."

No smirk, no grin. Just a gentle touch around her waist.

She placed her hands on top of his arm. Why did it have to feel so good there? Why did his touch have to be so warm?

Instead of moving it away, as she had intended, she patted his arm.

"I'm going to fall in love, Changmin, but not with you."

He stilled before whispering his reply, "You've always been in love with me Yoona. Ever since the day we met."

He wasn't being arrogant, it was the truth, and they both knew it.

Before she could pull away he reached up and pulled her down next to him.

"You said, "I'm going to fall in love." That just means that you're not in love with him."

Their faces were inches apart, his eyes locked her own and held her.

He raised his leg up again, and placed it on top of hers, coiling her closer to him.

"I do love him!" she protested softly.

"But you're not IN love..."

She exhaled loudly and turned away, facing her back to him; she pushed his leg off of her.

"Aren't you even going to ask me who? Or don't you care?"

He leaned over and looked at her.

Then he raised up her head and slipped his arm under it, and snuggled up behind her.

"Who says I don't care? DongHae-hyung has never really been good at hiding his feelings for you."

She tutted with a "Cheh" sound, and closed her eyes briefly. Changmin had seen it, even before she did.

"Don't be mad at me, Yoong. I know I'm a jerk. But no one can say I don't care about you."

Like a sister, she thought disdainfully.

"I will always need you."

"Need isn't love." she replied with tears forming in her eyes. She closed them tightly, refusing to give in to this near forgotten emotion.

What was she doing? He was only her crush, for heaven's sake! He was her infatuation, nothing more, she told herself.

"No," he agreed. "Need isn't love. Need is far worse."

She considered his words when he added, "I need you as much as I need air to breathe."

"And I need love." Yoona replied.

"Don't make me beg." he whispered. "Don't leave."

She silently considered Changmin and how he held her with his plea. Minutes passed and she decided to wait until he fell asleep before leaving him. His words were so passionate that she nearly held her breath after hearing them.

Changmin's heart thumped loudly in his own ears, and he was sure she could hear it as well. But he wouldn't say the words. He could never say the words she longed to hear, because he was in no position to live up to them.

He knew he couldn't give her what she deserved.

It was moments like this that he absolutely loathed being famous. Tonight he wanted to throw it all away and just be Changmin Shim, not Changmin Choikang.

He longed to let it all go and forget singing altogether.

He tightened his hold on her and took deep breath.

Changmin suddenly felt fatigued, and he drifted into thoughts of better times.

Of a time when they could still walk the streets together, both holding a handle to a plastic bag from the convenience store filled with cold sodas that they were taking back to the practice room.

"_You didn't have to come and help me Oppa," she beamed, obviously delirious that he had volunteered to accompany her on her errand._

"_I couldn't let you be punished by yourself. After all, it as Kyu and I that talked you into putting the wind-up toy mouse in the girls locker room in the first place."_

_They both chuckled at how the conspiracy had gotten a little too out of hand when most of the members screamed at the top of their lungs and jumped up onto the benches, but Jessica and Tiffany had grabbed their towels and ran out of the locker room. _

_They crashed into the two __awaiting co-conspirators who were roaring with laughter, but immediately were stunned to see the two lovely girls come crashing into them, wearing their sweatpants, a bra while attempting to cover themselves with their towels._

"_I guess we got off pretty easy when you consider how much damage Jessica and Tiffany could have done!" Changmin grinned._

"_They probably won't forgive me for you seeing them like that." _

"_That's the first time I've ever seen boobs so close," Changmin admitted._

"_OPPA!" Yoona stomped her foot down in protest._

"_What? It's true." Changmin shrugged and then added a snarky remark: "If I wait till you grow yours, I'll be waiting forever."_

_That's the first time he found out first hand how hard Yoona Im could punch._

While Yoona waited for his breathing to relax she felt a warmth wash over and realized how tantalizing it was to be lying next to him.

"Pabo," she whispered to herself. Who was the bigger fool tonight, him for needing her, or her for staying with him?

He excited her and calmed her at the same time. It was ironic, how she felt at home in his arms.

Just a little bit longer, she told herself.

It was the sense of security he gave her that lulled her to sleep.

Yunho turned off TV after confirming everyone was fast asleep. He walked over to BoA and they both shook their heads as they looked over at Yoona and Changmin.

Changmin nuzzled his forehead against the back of her head, and instinctively curled his legs inward, until his thighs rested snuggly against Yoona's bottom. His outstretched right arm served as Yoona's pillow, while his left arm was wrapped around her waist. Even in his sleep he must have somehow known it was her that he held, and he pulled her in closer, so that her back fit perfectly, as a long lost missing puzzle piece, up against his chest.

It was only in their sleep that they dropped the barrier of friendship, and subconsciously gave in to their natural feelings for each other.

They both smiled in their sleep.

Yunho wrapped his arm around BoA's shoulders and whispered in her ear, "They're making me jealous already, look at those faces!"

"Changmin better not let his hands wander, or else he'll be dead by morning," BoA whispered back.

"But what a way to go!" Yunho playfully bit on BoA's earlobe and she repaid him by leaning her head back on his shoulder.

He paused suddenly, not knowing if he should continue or excuse himself for the evening. He didn't want to assume that he could resume his place next to her side tonight, knowing that she had guests, their dongsengs.

"I'm going to bed," she stated simply and turned to give him a peck on the lips.

He took a step forward and then hesitated.

He reached down and grabbed hold of the bag and rubbed the stubble on his chin, grinning with a smirk that raised one side of his smile upwards.

Tonight Changmin wouldn't be the only one holding a secret in his arms.


End file.
